Mediation Trainings Offered by Susan S. Raines, Ph.D.
sraines@kennesaw.edu or tel. 770-815-4428

Please note: If you are seeking to become a registered mediator in the state of Georgia, the trainings must be taken in the order listed. Please visit the website of the Georgia Office of Dispute Resolution (GODR) for further details on the requirements for court-connected mediators in Georgia. http://www.godr.org/odr.html

About the trainer…
Dr. Susan Raines is an Associate Professor of Conflict Management at Kennesaw State University. She has mediated more than 10,000 civil and domestic disputes; trains mediators throughout Georgia and internationally; has designed and evaluated Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) programs for state and federal agencies; regularly facilitates public meetings; leads negotiated rulemaking processes; and is an ACR Advanced Practitioner. She was the 2006 President of the Georgia chapter of the Association for Conflict Resolution (ACR) and is the Editor-in-Chief of Conflict Resolution Quarterly.

28 Hour Civil Mediation:
This course covers basic mediation skills using experiential learning techniques. The course covers the key aspects of the mediation process, ethics rules for Georgia mediators, listening and framing skills, how to start a mediation business, and more. Georgia Continuing Legal Education credits available upon request at an additional fee ($5.00 per unit).

The cost for this course in the metro Atlanta area is $750, with discounts for groups and court employees.

Civil Mediation Practicum:
After taking the 28 hour Civil Mediation course, trainees seeking to register with GODR will need to observe 5 civil mediation in Georgia or take the Civil Mediation Practicum. In this course trainees will observe mediations in the classroom, both live and via videotape. After each sample mediation, the instructor will lead trainees in a discussion of the observed techniques and issues arising from the observations. Georgia Continuing Legal Education credits available upon request at an additional fee ($5.00 per unit).

The cost for this course in the metro Atlanta area is $300, with discounts for groups and court employees.

 42 Hour Domestic Relations Mediation:

If you are seeking to mediate divorce and family cases referred by Georgia courts, you must possess a bachelor’s degree and have fulfilled the requirements to be a civil mediator (see the two trainings listed above).

In addition to the required content, this course emphasizes extra role play, case screening for domestic violence, dealing with cross-cultural issues in divorce, strategies for building a mediation practice, and includes intensive practice with Georgia’s new Child Support calculations and Parenting Plan forms. Georgia Continuing Legal Education credits available upon request at an additional fee ($5.00 per unit).

The cost for this course in the metro Atlanta area is $1000.00 with discounts for groups and court employees.

Domestic Relations Mediation Practicum:

After completing the 42 Hour Domestic Relations Mediation course, trainees must observe 1 and co-mediate 2 domestic mediations of they seek to mediate court referred cases in Georgia, or they can take this practicum course as a substitute for these observation and co-mediation requirements. This 2-day course includes observation of live and/or videotaped simulations as well mediation practice through role play.

The cost of this course in metro Atlanta is $400 (subject to change based on class size) with discounts for groups and court employees.

14 Hour Specialized Issues of Domestic Violence in Mediation:

This course is for registered Domestic Relations mediators seeking approval to mediate domestic relations cases in which family violence has previously occurred. In no case do mediators mediate criminal violence issues. Rather, mediators conducting divorce and family mediations where domestic violence has previously occurred are required to have this additional specialized training. While civil mediators cannot currently use this training for GODR registration purposes, they may find it useful in many civil cases including probate, non-married partners with property disputes, neighborhood disputes and others.

The cost of this course in metro Atlanta is $350.00 with discounts for groups and court employees.