Pre-Conference Trainings

Pre-Conference Training will be held at the Deerfoot Inn in Calgary and will include morning coffee and tea, buffet lunch and an afternoon chilled beverage.

Introduction to the Roots and Process of Restorative Dialogue

Trainer: Paula Drouin and Jennifer Big Crow

November 21 and 22, 2023 - 8:30 AM - 4:30 PM

Cost: $400

During this two-day training, Service Providers/Practitioners can expect to travel on a journey from the
Indigenous roots of Restorative Justice through to an understanding of the principles and
values of Restorative Justice before learning and practicing the victim offender dialogue model most frequently used with criminal court files in Canada.
Paula Drouin from ADR Learning Institute and Jennifer Big Crow from Tsuu T’ina Nation will facilitate this training.

Day 1 will include the indigenous roots of restorative justice and will cover what restorative justice is and its use in Canadian criminal matters. This will include the various forms restorative justice can take, education and discussion on assessing suitability of files, and facilitators for a victim offender dialogue process.

Day 2 will zoom in on an introduction to, demonstration of, and role play practice of a
victim-offender dialogue model.

Inviting Responsibility: RJ Casework With Those Who Have Committed Sexualized Violence

Trainers: Alan Edwards and Dr. Alana Abramson

Dates: November 21 and 22, 2023 – 8:30 AM - 4:30 PM

Registration: Maximum 25 registrants

Cost: $400

This 2-day training is designed for Service Providers/Practitioners who are thinking about or are already working with cases of sexualized violence. Utilizing a balance of lecture, large and small group discussions, exercises, fishbowls, and case studies, participants will learn an approach to seeking offender responsibility that is informed by restorative justice values and priorities as well as by current theory/research from psychology and gender-based violence practice.

We will explore questions such as:
How might we be more effective when inviting responsibility from those who have harmed sexually?
How do we understand and work with the emotions that inform minimizing and blaming, and help bring authentic accountability into being?

How do we align our work, so that we remain true to restorative justice values?

What practitioner competencies can enhance our effectiveness in the complex area of sexualized violence?

The focus will be case development /pre-conference work with those who have offended sexually. We will address the following areas:
• Responsibility and accountability in cases of sexualized violence,
• Identifying and working with barriers to responsibility-taking, such as rape myth acceptance,
shame, early exposure to trauma, and trauma-influenced masculinity,
• Service Provider/Practitioner qualities and competencies that foster the offending person’s movement toward
responsibility,
• Exploring remorse for harming actions,
• Identifying and exploring core beliefs and orientations that support offending behaviours,
including but not limited to societal messages around patriarchy and misogyny.

This training will be of interest to restorative justice Service Providers/Practitioners, gender-based violence workers, justice
professionals, and post-secondary workers who are active in the areas of sexual misconduct or sexual
assault centres.

The Power of Healthy Tension

Trainer: Tim Arnold

Date: Wednesday November 22, 2023 – 8:30 AM - 4:30 PM

Registration: Maximum 50 registrants

Cost: $225

Leverage complexity, embrace change, and lead with confidence.
As a professional, we often treat every challenge as a problem to be solved, with a right or wrong answer. Stimulate change or preserve stability? Structure or flexibility? Work or home? But this “either/or” thinking is a dangerous trap! To be more effective— both at work and at home — we need to realize that many of life’s challenges are tensions to be managed. This workshop provides a simple framework that allows teams to tap into the power of “both/and” thinking. By doing this, we gain a massive competitive
advantage, and move from surviving to thriving.

Training Outcomes:

Embrace diverse perspectives and gain the ability to work effectively with people who have different opinions and perspectives than your own.
Learn the difference between a problem to solve and a tension to manage.
Gain the skills required to skillfully communicate conflicting points of view.
Make better decisions by leveraging a thoughtful, deliberate decision-

making approach when dealing with complex issues.