

February 2025 Learner Session: Beginner’s Mind in Mediation: From Judgement to Discernment
Cost:
Free for ADRIA members only
Course Description:
“The goal of practice is always to keep our beginner’s mind…in the beginner’s mind there are many possibilities; in the expert’s mind there are few.” –Zen master Suzuki Roshi.
Humans have a deeply ingrained inclination for rapid decision-making, particularly when it comes to making judgements about others. This capacity is both “wired” in us and supported by cultural factors. Although in many circumstances quick judgements are self-protective, they hinder a mediator’s skilfulness and effectiveness.
As mediators, people’s behaviour in conflict can appear as classic or archetypal patterns that blind us to the uniqueness of the individuals and the situation. Crucially, rapid judgements subtly undermine the neutrality we promise our clients.
Various ways for mediators to counteract this tendency have been offered, including implicit bias training and other cognitive approaches, but up to now the notion of developing “Beginner’s Mind” has seen little attention.
Join Mark Donovan, C. MED, for a discussion of how practicing Beginner’s Mind can foster your capacity for openness and curiosity and counteract judgement formation with clear-eyed discernment.
Course Details:
You will receive an email with login details the morning of the session date. Contact education@adralberta.com to request details no later than 2:00pm the day of the session if you do not receive this information.
Please note, we do record these sessions to be posted on the members only section of our website. By registering, you agree to the recording. In cases where we can, we will only post the speaker view. If you would like, you are welcome to leave your camera off for the duration of the session.
You must be a member of ADRIA and logged into your account to register.
- Feb 05 2025
- Expired!
- 6:00 pm - 7:00 pm
- Free
Location
- Instructor(s): Mark Donovan
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The Fine Print:
Please note, we do record these sessions to be posted on the members only section of our website. By registering, you agree to the recording. In cases where we can, we will only post the speaker view. If you would like, you are welcome to leave your camera off for the duration of the session.