This course is highly interactive and participants will be asked to engage with each other and work together outside of class. It is ideal for anyone who needs to work with people and manage them.

Course Aim: To equip participants with the knowledge, skills, attitude and awareness required to intervene positively and/or mediate with people experiencing conflict and difficulties in a variety of situations. It is suitable for leaders, managers, HR consultants and employees along with those wishing to specialise in conflict intervention and communication.

Each participant receives one on one coaching and mentoring during skills practice in class.
Booking form available here

• To develop participants understanding of the theory of conflict and ADR how conflict happens, escalates and impacts people and organisations.
• To develop awareness of conflict styles and facilitate skill development so that participants can expand their repertoire of conflict behaviours to suit the contexts they find themselves in.
• To attain a good understanding of core mediation and ADR concepts, theories, models, processes, and principles.
• To develop participants’ mediation skills to the level of competency as laid down in MII certified assessment requirements.
• To raise participants’ awareness of how their own triggers and biases can impact the mediation process and to facilitate ways of managing them.
• To learn how to create an environment of trust, rapport and empowerment when facilitating people in conflict.
• To provide participants with essential information which guides mediator’s behaviour e.g. The Mediation Act (2017) and the MII Codes of Ethics and Standards.
• To provide participants with opportunities to work with power and develop their own reflective practitioner.

To confirm a place before paying please contact Catherine at:
Email: Catherine@blossomdevelopment.com
Phone: 0879936237

CATHERINE O’CONNELL BIOGRAPHY

Catherine is an experienced and accredited mediator, restorative dialogue facilitator, CINERGY™ conflict management coach and trainer in all three areas. From 2014 to 2025 Catherine is a lecturer in mediation, conflict management and restorative practice at Maynooth University and National College of Ireland. She also has been engaged in various peace building projects run by Maynooth University.

Catherine works in both workplace and family contexts as a mediator, conflict coach or restorative facilitator to enable parties make their own decisions and work together in a collaborative way when changes occur. The contexts can vary such as a couple separating, managing the care of a family member, finding a way through conflict around inheritance issues, bullying and harassment claims in work and general workplace conflict.

Catherine delivers training in Mediation, Restorative Practice, CINERGY™ Conflict Management Coaching, and bespoke training in conflict management and communications skills for leaders, groups and organisations. She has run her MII Certified Mediation Programme for the Irish Red Cross and Maynooth University,

Catherine has trained ex combatants in the north of Ireland in mediation and conflict intervention skills. She has partnered with the Traveller Mediation Service to deliver the MII Certified Mediation Programme to prisoners in Castlerea Prison (2019), Cork Prison, Portlaoise Prison (2023-2024) and to members of the Traveller community from 2018 – 2025.

 Catherine was a researcher in the seminal collaborative research project between Facing Forward and Dr Marie Keenan entitled “Sexual Trauma and Abuse: Restorative and Transformative Possibilities” (2014). She has written “Building Bridges”, an article about a Restorative Justice Initiative in Green Bay Maximum Security Prison Wisconsin for the ‘Journal of Mediation and Applied Conflict Analysis’ published online by Maynooth University. In 2018, she undertook with Barbara Walshe a consultation on the ‘Options and Appropriate Courses of action available to Government in relation to the site of the former Mother and Baby Home, Tuam County Galway’ (April 2018). From 2019 to 2021, again with Barbara Walshe, she worked with survivors of Institutional abuse on the themes and issues they wished to consult with Government on.

From April 2021 to 2023 Catherine and Barbara have facilitated a co-designed restorative process between the Jesuit order in Ireland and past pupils who had been abused by a deceased Jesuit priest while they were in Jesuit schools. The account was published on 14th August 2023

Associations that Catherine belongs to include the Mediators’ Institute of Ireland, Mediation beyond Borders, The Association of Conflict Resolution, the Restorative Justice Council in the U.K and the European Forum for Restorative Justice. She is on the steering committee of Restorative Practices Ireland and is on the quality assurance committee of same.