This course will serve as a high-level introduction to major concepts and issues in understanding the structure and dynamics of family and their relations and dynamics from African, Western, and intersectional perspectives. Students will be introduced to family dynamics, family systems, historical and demographic context of Black families, routes and roots to separation, mental health and trauma, grief, high conflict disputes, attachment, divorce, strategies for managing challenging cases, and the impact on Black families. This course will assist students in developing an understanding of family relations in the context of alternative dispute resolution and mediation through an intersectional perspective.  When completed with the other required courses, this three-week course fulfills the requirements for certification. It is required for individuals not registered as mental health professionals. 

Description coming soon.

A program designed to build and strengthen participants’ skills in recognizing, evaluating, and effectively managing risks and power dynamics in their family dispute resolution work while fostering a deeper understanding of how to deliver equitable and culturally informed family dispute resolution services.

This comprehensive course will combine theoretical knowledge, recorded lectures, online assessments, group discussions, with 30 % of the curriculum dedicated to to interactive role plays based on case studies to train new mediators in working with African, Caribbean, and Black families. The course focuses on equipping mediators with the skills and tools needed to effectively support these families in utilizing alternative dispute resolution (ADR) processes to resolve family law issues. 

This course will focus on using a restorative justice approach introducing the concept of mediation from a black Afrocentric, anti-racist lens.  We will focus on the colonization of black people, neutrality and how they impact on black families, the family court systems, the intersectionalities of law and more importantly what constitutes a family in Canada and Ontario. 

The course introduces participants to Family Mediation and its applicability to various situations, including separation and divorce, unmarried spouses, non-biological parents, same- gender partners, and cultural dynamics.  

This advanced course offered over the course of three days will build upon the basic course.  Emphasis will be placed on expanding skills, techniques and processes using a restorative justice approach to family mediation.  We will examine various trauma-informed practices to explore a wrap-around approach commonly used in many countries.    

A bundle including Ujima Family Relations, Ujima Screening for Family Violence, Ujima Basic Mediation, and Ujima Advanced Mediation.