About Joan Davis Joan Davis has led FMNI as Executive Director since 2009. She graduated from QUB with a Political Science degree and has gained a wealth of experience in both private and voluntary sector services. However, her passion is for the services provided by the voluntary/ third sector. She believes passionately in early intervention services that both reduce adverse childhood experiences and save the public sector huge sums by averting the lifelong challenges many children face when they are subject to long-running acrimonious parental separation. About FMNI Family Mediation NI (FMNI) is registered with the Charity Commission NI and is the lead provider of impartial, nonjudgemental, confidential family mediation available at venues throughout NI and on-line platforms. Separated parents mediation has been funded under contract by Dept of Health since 2009. It is also the lead trainer of family mediators in NI, offering a bespoke foundation training programme approved by the College of Mediators (UK). FMNI’s sessional panel of 20 mediators, together with its additional specialists, are able to provide expertise in child-inclusive mediation and wider family mediation as well as elder mediation and finance mediation. Contact Joan Davis Executive Director Family Mediation NI (FMNI) Family Mediation NI, Rights House, 127-131 Ormeau Road, Belfast, Northern Ireland, BT7 1SH, UK Tel: +44 02890 243265 E: joan@familymediationni.org.uk Twitter: @FamMediation_NI Facebook: Family Mediaiton NI www.familymediationni.org.uk ‘Do no harm’ is our mantra, so the assessment process for suitability for our model at the individual information and assessment meeting (IAM) is crucial. critical, as asking parents to make well-informed decisions and listen attentively to one another can be detrimental if neither are willing or able to focus on a shared agenda. Of course, this requires not only the ability to talk the talk but also to develop good communication with the other parent that supports the co-parenting and parent-child relationships into the future. ‘Do no harm’ is our mantra, so the assessment process for suitability for our model at the individual information and assessment meeting (IAM) is crucial. All mediators are required to be confident and competent in assessment. This is an important part of training and is continuously supported via regular supervision, which occurs four times per year and is available on ad hoc basis if required. Best outcomes for children and families may only be achieved when we are working with the right clients at the right time for them. - Excellent communication skills, life experience, optimism, empathy, and the ability to transfer theory into practice, creating a commitment to lifelong learning, reflection and supervision. - After this, it is the client’s responsibility to maintain the momentum for effecting change for themselves and their family. Why is effective mediation training essential to familyrelated conflict resolution? The uniqueness of each family is inherent. Thorough specialised training in legal requirements, adverse childhood experiences and child development is necessary to support families in protecting their own welfare when parental separation is poorly managed. In addition, parents do get caught up in acrimonious end-ofrelationship issues for a multitude of reasons, so the ability to recognise and support parents to move forward and develop a co-parenting relationship is essential for children’s welfare and a functioning society that is able to manage conflict and not just react to it. As mediators, the timing for this is THOUGHT LEADER 69
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