Family Mediation, Arbitration &
Parenting Coordination Training


Our quality courses are all online, combining
real time and “on your time” learning.

Family Mediation, Arbitration & Parenting Coordination

Our acclaimed family mediation, arbitration, parenting coordination and practicum courses equip hundreds of students each year to become great FDR professionals.

Using an innovative learning management system, students attend live lectures and tutorials/coaching sessions led by industry leaders, and asynchronous webinars on their own time. We incorporate fun teaching and testing technologies every step of the way.

Our students enjoy our programs so much, they often stay in touch with each other for years to come.

Our courses are approved for professional designations with the OAFM and FDRIO.

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International ADR Training

Our unique program in International ADR Training grew from training we provided to government officials, police officers, and community leaders throughout the Caribbean (St. Lucia, Grenada, St. Kitts, Guyana, Belize, Dominica, Barbados) for The IMPACT Justice Project.

With its practical combination of theory and practice, this 40-hour International ADR course will equip anyone seeking to develop their mediation and negotiation skills in a community, organizational or legal context.

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Custom Mediation Training

We have designed custom Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR), negotiation and civil mediation courses, as well as family mediation  training courses for organizations around the world.

We know how to delve deeply to understand the issues that matter in conflict, not just negotiating positions.

Our experienced mediation trainers can create a specific version of any of our standard courses or can design a tailored course just for your company, organization, or government.

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Upcoming Mediation Courses

EARLY BIRD PRICING ENDS SOON

10 hour Update in IPV and Power Imbalance Screening for Family Arbitrators & Parenting Coordinators

PROGRAM OPEN FOR SELF-DIRECTED LEARNING (100% ASYNCHRONOUS).

WEBINAR FORMAT: REMOTE DELIVERY OF LIVE & ONLINE CONTENT

Course Details

Advanced Parenting Coordination (14 Hours)

Spring 2024 (Program open from March 21 – April 11, 2024, with Live Tutorials on March 28 & April 9, 2024).

Spring 2025 (Program open from March 27 – April 17, 2025, with Live Tutorials on April 3 & 10, 2025).

Online (Self-directed learning and live, interactive sessions)

Course Details

Advanced Family Mediation (21 Hours)

Spring 2024 (program open from April 9 – May 6, 2024, with live Tutorials on April 16, 25 & May 2, 2024).

Spring 2025 (program open from April 29 – May 27, 2025, with live Tutorials: May 6, 13 & 20, 2025).

Online (Synchronous & Asynchronous content)

Course Details
View Course Calendar

Our Mediation Trainers

Lead Family Mediation Trainers (from left to right): Elizabeth Hyde, Hilary Linton. See our team of skilled mediation co-trainers and coaches.

Meet the Training Team

Testimonials

Your work offers us the ability to make our mediation and collaborative process safe. It offered me a whole new way of working, of being able to reach far further along the continuum of challenging couples and of doing this work with far more satisfaction.

— James Pirrie, Solicitor, Collaborative Lawyer,
Mediator and Arbitrator, Family Law in Partnership, London, U.K.

IMPACT Justice is a Canadian-funded project being implemented from within the Caribbean Law Institute of the Faculty of Law, University of the West Indies, Cave Hill Campus. We have used Riverdale Mediation to train mediators including police officers, social workers, probation officers and persons from many other disciplines in Barbados, Belize, Dominica, Guyana, St. Kitts and Nevis and St. Lucia during 2016/17.

The Riverdale Mediation trainers are extremely professional in their approach, are knowledgeable, adaptable and know how to make trainees feel comfortable. We have had nothing but glowing comments from the many persons they have trained under the IMPACT Justice Programme.

— IMPACT Justice Project Director, Prof. Velma Newton

Riverdale Mediation was highly recommended to us from our ADR colleagues from across the country. Hilary and Elizabeth delivered a high-quality, practical, and interesting 2-day family law arbitration training to over 20 dispute resolution professionals in PEI in March 2017. The feedback we received from participants in their post-training evaluations was glowing. Hilary and Elizabeth brought a wealth of knowledge and experience to the training and were effective communicators and teachers.

— Jenny Mason and Michael Zimmerman,
Lawyers, Government of Prince Edward Island,
Department of Justice & Public Safety, Family Law Section

Hilary’s approach to presentation is affable, easily digestible and highly informative. Hilary was willing to share all her knowledge in an open and constructive manner, dealt with difficult questions and imparted her knowledge with abandon. All our delegates were highly impressed with the professional and capable manner in which her presentation was delivered and the knowledge imparted.

— Astrid Martalas, Conference Organiser,
Family Mediation Association of the Cape, South Africa

Hilary’s passion for the field is infectious and so evident in how she presents her material and in the fantastic guest speakers who we had the pleasure of hearing. It is understandable why Riverdale has a great reputation as the foremost in Mediation education.

Family lawyers should consider the training offered by RM to be mandatory professional development. Hilary and Elizabeth methodically teach the theory and practice of interest-based negotiation, rapport building and conflict management. More importantly, the diverse group of professionals that Riverdale attracts creates a unique learning environment for the exchange of fresh perspectives.

I really enjoyed Jared's teaching style. He was engaging and knew a lot about the topics. The course (Family Relations, January 2017) was extremely interesting and applicable to my work.

Mediator-In-Training (MIT) Program

Each year, we provide supervised hands-on mediation experience for between 10 to 15 mediation and parenting coordination students.

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