Contact: Sharon Pickett 301-365-9307
2003
ACR Family Section Conference
Denver Conference
Focuses on Ways to Help Families Resolve Conflicts
The nation's top family mediators will gather
at the Hyatt Hotel in Denver from July 10-13 to
tackle some of the tough issues facing families
today. More than 60 speakers will discuss the
latest research on children and divorce, ways
to prevent and respond to family violence, ethical
issues involved when mediators include children
in the process of divorce negotiations, and many
other topics. "A Family Affair: Making
Room at the Table" is sponsored
by the Association for Conflict Resolution, a
nonprofit organization representing more than
6000 mediators, arbitrators, educators and other
conflict resolution practitioners. Participants
come from across the U.S. and several foreign
countries and are members of the Family Section
of ACR.
Family mediation services help solve conflicts
in the most basic and important unit of our society
and provide an important alternative to the traditional
adversarial approach. Services include divorce
mediation, post-divorce mediation to resolve parenting
issues, helping families resolve issues involving
adoption, assistance with family business disputes
and many other issues. As families, lawyers, and
other professionals become more familiar with
the process of mediation, many are voluntarily
turning to mediators to help them with their disputes.
Many court systems also now require couples contemplating
divorce to seek mediation before resorting to
the courts.
One significant benefit of mediation is that,
unlike a court action, the disputing parties retain
control of the process and the outcome. The mediator
facilitates a discussion between the parties that
allows them to choose their own agenda and create
their own agreements. Unlike arbitration, the
mediator does not make any decisions about the
outcome. The mediator remains impartial at all
times and guides the parties through a process
that involves gathering information, framing the
issues in a neutral context, developing options,
negotiating, and formalizing agreements. At any
point, if one party is not satisfied with the
mediation, he or she can withdraw from the process
and pursue a remedy elsewhere.
The keynote address will take place on Thursday,
July 10th from 5:00 – 6:30pm. Psychologists
Robert Emery, Ph.D. and Joan Kelly, Ph.D.,
two of the nation's top researchers on children
and divorce, will address key questions including:
"Are children from divorced families mostly
at risk or mostly resilient?" "What
custody arrangements work best for children of
different ages?" How can children's voices
be incorporated into the mediation process?"
Conference participation is open to anyone interested
in conflict resolution, children, family law or
related topics. The registration fee for non-members
is $360. Daily rates are also available. To register,
members of the public should call 301-464-9700
ext. 210. Members of the press should call 301-365-9307
to request free admission.
Available for Interviews:
Bernie Mayer, Ph.D is a Partner with CDR Associates
in Boulder, Colorado and a member of the Board
of Directors of the Association for Conflict Resolution.
Bernie has worked in the conflict resolution field
for more than 25 years and has mediated or facilitated
the resolution of conflicts ranging from labor
management issues, public policy, and ethnic conflicts
to business, family, community, housing, and intergovernmental
conflicts. He writes extensively on conflict resolution
and recently published The Dynamics of Conflict
Resolution: A Practitioner's Guide.
Denver news event July 10-13, 2003
Talk shows: arranged by request
06/25/2003
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