Mediation Training

There are many excellent 40-hour mediation programs available to train mediators; however, these 40-hour trainings are not sufficient in and of themselves to provide mediators with the necessary skills and knowledge they need to mediate divorce and other family law matters in California.

Whether they are licensed attorneys or not, divorce mediators must be familiar with the California Family Law Code and have the necessary legal knowledge to competently mediate the division of real estate, retirement assets, stock options, or businesses. 40-hour Training Programs do not include sufficient curriculum to competently navigate these marital property issues. Nor do these 40-hour training courses provide the basic legal information needed to mediate child and spousal support, or to obtain an understanding of the statutes that pertain to paying for children’s expenses and drafting parenting plans.

Many psychologists, MFT’s, coaches, CDFA, financial professionals and other professionals who have completed 40-hour training programs are excellent at resolving conflicts and easily grasp the underlying skills and mediation tools that form the basis of 40-hour curriculums, but they need more if they want to competently mediate divorce cases.

Since there are no laws or statutes required to be followed by mediators in California, and anyone can mediate, New Day Divorce Center’s founder, Terri Breer, designed New Day Divorce’s Mediation Training Programs to raise the standard of care for Divorce Mediators. She wanted to ensure that family mediators were not just effective in using their conflict resolution skills, but that they also had the legal information and knowledge they need to meet the minimum standard of care to competently mediate a divorce case.