Call Us: 03300 431 757
Looking to build experience and confidence or refresh your mediation skills? This is for you...
Mediation Practice Sessions and Business Support
Qualifying as a mediator is an important step, but most mediators need continued practice before they feel ready to work confidently with real clients.
The Mediator Practice Pathway is designed to help you refresh, practise and strengthen your core mediation skills in a safe, supportive online environment.
It is especially useful if you have recently qualified, have not yet had much live mediation work, or have been away from regular practice and want to rebuild confidence.
This is not another theory-based training course. It is a practical skills pathway built around realistic mediation scenarios, structured feedback and coaching.
Why This Programme Matters
Mediation is a practical skill. Like any professional skill, it needs to be used, refreshed and developed after qualification.
Many mediators qualify and then find themselves waiting for real opportunities. During that gap, confidence can drop. Skills can feel rusty. It can become harder to know whether you are ready to work with clients.
The Mediator Practice Pathway helps you close that gap.
You will practise the mediation process, receive feedback, reflect on your approach and build the confidence to take your next step safely and professionally.
Session One: Pre-Mediation
This session focuses on the work that happens before the mediation meeting.
You will practise how to prepare parties for mediation, manage early conversations, explain the process clearly, gather key information and begin building trust.
This helps you develop confidence in the early stages of a case, before the parties come together.
Session Two: Mediation and Co-Mediation
This session focuses on the mediation meeting itself.
You will practise working through joint sessions, private meetings and caucuses. You will also explore how to co-mediate effectively, manage the room, support communication and respond to challenging moments.
This is where you begin to strengthen your ability to hold the process, manage uncertainty and use your mediator judgement in real time.
Session Three: Outcome Management
This session focuses on helping parties move towards clear, workable outcomes.
You will practise supporting agreement-building, reality testing, managing expectations and helping parties capture outcomes in a practical way.
This helps you develop confidence in the final stages of mediation, where clarity, calm and careful process management are essential.
Practical Scenarios That Build Confidence
The pathway uses realistic and challenging mediation scenarios.
These are designed to help you practise the skills you are likely to need when working with real clients, including:
-
process management
-
active listening
-
questioning and reframing
-
working with emotion
-
managing impasse
-
using private meetings effectively
-
supporting parties towards outcomes
-
maintaining neutrality and professional boundaries
-
working alongside another mediator
The aim is not perfection. The aim is improvement, reflection and confidence.
Feedback and Coaching
You will receive feedback and coaching from experienced mediators.
The feedback is designed to be practical, supportive and useful. It will help you understand what you are doing well, where you can improve and what to focus on next.
This is a safe practice environment. Mistakes and uncertainty are expected. That is why the pathway exists.
Who This Is For
The Mediator Practice Pathway is suitable for:
-
newly qualified mediators who want more practice before working with real clients
-
mediators who have qualified but have not yet had much case experience
-
consultant mediators who are not mediating regularly
-
in-house mediators who want to refresh their skills
-
mediators who feel their confidence has dropped since qualification
-
mediators who want structured practice, feedback and CPD
It is recommended as a first step beyond qualification and as a refresher programme for mediators who are not actively practising on a regular basis.
Recommended Before Working With Real Clients
If you have qualified but have not yet had much live experience, we strongly recommend completing structured practice before working with real clients.
The pathway gives you space to practise, make mistakes, ask questions and build confidence before you are expected to manage real disputes.
It helps you move from qualified to more prepared.
What Is Included
The Mediator Practice Pathway includes:
-
three practical online mediation skills sessions
-
structured practice using realistic scenarios
-
opportunities to practise pre-mediation, mediation meetings, caucuses and outcome management
-
feedback and coaching from experienced mediators
-
small-group learning and reflection
-
certificate of attendance
-
12 hours of CPD
Online Delivery
All sessions are delivered online via Zoom.
This makes the programme accessible wherever you are based, while still giving you live, interactive practice with other mediators.
Certificate and CPD
You will receive a certificate of attendance after completing the programme.
The Mediator Practice Pathway provides 12 hours of CPD.
What This Programme Is Not
-
This is not a qualification course.
-
It is not an assessment.
-
It is not accreditation.
-
It does not guarantee mediation work or panel membership.
It is a practical skills refresh and confidence-building programme for mediators who want to keep developing after qualification.
Why Join?
Join if you want to:
-
refresh your mediation skills
-
practise in a safe environment
-
receive feedback from experienced mediators
-
build confidence after qualification
-
prepare before working with real clients
-
stay connected to mediation practice
-
complete 12 hours of CPD
-
take a practical next step in your mediator development
how much does it cost?
Build confidence and gain experience with our leading facilitators for just £295 (no VAT).
Next Step
If you have qualified as a mediator but want more practice, feedback and confidence before taking on real client work, the Mediator Practice Pathway is a practical place to start.
Join the waitlist or contact the DRA team to ask about the next online cohort.
mediator pathway FAQs
It is for qualified mediators who want to refresh their skills, build confidence and practise before working with real clients. It is especially useful for newly qualified mediators, in-house mediators and consultants who are not mediating regularly.
No. This is a practical skills pathway. It focuses on practice, feedback, coaching and confidence building rather than theory.
There are three practical sessions: Pre-Mediation, Mediation and Co-Mediation, and Outcome Management.
Yes. All sessions are delivered online via Zoom.
You take part in live role-play mediations in small groups, rotating roles and receiving structured feedback from experienced mediators.
No. This is a safe supervised practice environment. Uncertainty and mistakes are expected and supported.
Sessions are facilitated by experienced senior mediators. Their role is to support practice and reflection — not to assess or approve you.
No. Guidance and examples are provided, but not bespoke writing or editing.
Per cycle:
-
3 half-day supervised practice sessions
-
3 one-hour DRA Stage 2 support sessions
All sessions are online with dates provided in advance.
-
Attendance is encouraged, but missing a session does not exclude you from the pathway.
Yes. The Mediator Practice Pathway exists because Stage 2 confidence is built through practice, not before it.
Yes, it is recommended if you have qualified but have not yet had much live mediation experience. It gives you a safer space to practise and build confidence before working with real clients.