Lisa Parkinson

Trainer
flag-of-United-Kingdom

United Kingdom

Lisa has over 40 years’ experience as a family mediator and previous experience in mental health social work and family therapy.

She co-founded the first family mediation service in the UK in 1978 and was a founder member of the European Forum on Family Mediation and World Mediation Forum. Lisa has taken part in conferences and family mediation training in many countries including Argentina, Canada, Finland, Hong Kong, Italy, Kazakhstan, Russia, Spain and Portugal, Turkey and Ukraine. She is co-founder and a Vice President of the Family Mediators Association in England and Wales. The 4th English edition of her book, Family Mediation, was published in 2020, with editions in seven other languages. Lisa trains accredited family mediators in child-inclusive mediation (ChiM) and takes part in research in this developing field.

Starts 16 Feb 2023
15:00
CET
Online
Led by International Mediator Campus
Registration is Free
Registration Ended

When parents split up, children are often left on the side-lines. Some parents fight for sole custody and control, while others believe they protect their children from distress by not talking to them about separation or divorce. But children understand far more than adults imagine. Under the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child 1989, children of sufficient age and maturity have the right to be consulted on decisions that affect their lives and express their own views and wishes. When children and young people are asked whether they want be heard, the overwhelming majority want to talk and be listened to, but they do not know where to turn.

Accredited family mediators with additional training in talking with children and young people whose parents are taking part in mediation offer them opportunities to talk with a professional safely and in confidence, except where a child is in need of safeguarding. A key finding by researchers at the University of Exeter is that ‘having your voice heard as a young person in parental mediation is empowering and cathartic, bringing mental health and well-being benefits’ (University of Exeter Report and Key Findings, March 2022).

ChiM – children in mediation – is a carefully staged process that may be arranged in different ways according to the family’s circumstances and culture, the age of the child and other considerations. This webinar will consider the pre-conditions for offering ChiM, such as joint parental consent, and discuss experience and outcomes in practice, quoting feedback from young people and their parents.

Featured IM Campus contributors

flag-of-Germany
Germany
She founded Consensus Group a German well known service provider for mediation in 2014 and in line with that later the International Campus. Her expertise and at the same time passion lies in conflict resolution, intercultural communication and curriculum development.
flag-of-Turkey
Turkey
Sezil Durmuş is an Attorney at Law registered in Istanbul Bar and a Mediator registered in Turkish Ministry of Justice. She focuses her practice on Contracts Law, Corporate Law and Employment Law by assisting her clients in structuring and negotiating legal transactions.
Greg was born in the UK and lives and works in Germany. He teaches mediation, negotiation and cross-cultural communication in commercial law, management and MBA programmes at the Technical University of Wildau, Berlin, Germany, where he also coordinates an internal conflict advisory service.
flag-of-United-Kingdom
United Kingdom
Catherine Davidson is a nationally accredited mediator (NMAS) and IMI Certified mediator practising in Australia and internationally.
flag-of-Canada
Canada
Julian’s career began in ethics, where his expertise rests in the areas of mental health, pharmaceuticals, and emerging technologies. As a mediator, he has worked throughout the health care spectrum on conflicts related to informed consent, patient rights and many others. He is drawn to innovation and mediates conflicts that stem from emerging technologies/industries and the entrepreneurial spirit that comes with them.