Education and training are top priorities at NYACP. Our programs, the jewel in the crown of NYACP, offer our members the opportunity to train with nationally recognized instructors to improve their Collaborative practice skills in substance, process and team functioning. We have designed a curriculum that includes basic Mediation and Collaborative Practice trainings for all professionals, monthly meetings, support groups, evening programs and periodic advanced programs. We welcome you to share our core value of excellence in Collaborative practice by training and learning with our Collaborative community.

For additional information regarding any program, please contact Abby Rosmarin, JD MS Ed,  NYACP Executive Director,  This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

Upcoming Trainings -- For Interested Professionals

No  trainings planned at this moment. Visit us again.

Recent Training and Events

WHY DID YOU DO THAT?   Advanced Team Functioning: Understanding Motives Behind Behavior for Effective Group Relationships - April 20, 2012

Have you ever wondered why someone (perhaps even yourself) can behave in a perfectly rational and productive manner under certain circumstances but in the face of continuing conflict or opposition can behave so differently?

Have you ever thought about why some times what you had perceived as a personality strength becomes, when operating in excess, an obstacle in creating and maintaining relationships?

Have you ever considered what makes a group tick?

In the heat of Collaborative negotiations, sometimes we do not understand why we do the things we do. We often donʼt understand from where the other team members are coming. Sometimes we even think that they are not being “collaborative.”

This workshop helped us to understand our relationship and communication styles, how they differ from others and how they change as we encounter opposition and conflict. Better understanding of the relationship styles allows us  to communicate more effectively and work more efficiently.  Borrowing from theories used in organizational psychology, Dr. Susan Gamache, an international Collaborative trainer,  led us through specific hands on tools to first assess our own behaviors and the motivation behind them. Using this knowledge, we learned to recognize ours and othersʼ relationships styles and how they change under pressure. Then, we  learned how to harness our new understanding of behaviors for enhanced and gratifying team performance.

Basic  Collaborative Practice: Developing Excellence in Interdisciplinary Team Practice - March 1, 2, & 5, 2012

This three day intensive training included a complete introduction to interdisciplinary Collaborative Divorce theory, practice, and skills development as well as ethics and practice development considerations. Participants learned how to work within a multidisciplinary team and how the Collaborative divorce process integrates the roles and functions of all team members to best assist families in their process of restructuring.

This training meets the Interdisciplinary Collaborative Training requirement for NYACP membership.

The Value of Collaborative Practice for LGBTQ Families and Relationships, February 2, 2012

NYACP and LGBTQ Collaborative Professionals of NYC sponsored this full day conference. It was an in depth and personal presentation that focused on educating and enlightening participants of the needs, complexities and challenges that face the LGBTQ community as well as how the Collaborative model can address these issues.

Divorce and Children's Adjustment: What Helps, What Harms? Current Research and Implications for Practice and Parenting Plans, December 8, 2011

Joan Kelly, PhD presented best current research and practices for protecting children in creating a parenting plans. This program educated practitioners as to the most current empirical research on factors associated with risk in children following divorce/separation, including parent conflict, quality and type of parenting, loss of relationships, multiple transitions, protective factors associated with better outcomes in children and implications for representing parents and children. Adam Berner, an NYACP member, facilitated this presentation, seeking to highlight how this information can be incorporated into an attorney's practice for use with clients, their legal counterparts and the Collaborative team of professionals.

Mediation Skills for Collaborative Practitioners, September 21-23 2011

This intensive three day training for collaborative professionals addressed the theoretical, practical, and personal dimensions of integrating an Understanding-based meditative perspective into Collaborative practice.

Having Tea with the Jabberwocky: How to Prepare the Client for the Negotiating Table,  September 21, 2011

Creativity is not just for artists - it is a fundamental basis why collaborative works.

Daniel Pink notes that "effective brainstorming sessions aren't random and haphazard." What we have difficulty with is how to prepare for brainstorming sessions. Prepare? Yes, prepare! Preparation provides a much needed sense of safety as well as optimism for both the professionals and the clients. We learned how to prepare our clients and ourselves for creative option generation through the use of exercises and play.

End Game: April 28-29, 2011¦...Tarrytown NY

The NYACP and the Center for Understanding in Conflict (Center for Mediation in Law) presented this 2-day program featuring Katherine Miller and Jack Himmelstein which explored how to deal with the final stage of working toward a completed agreement on all issues while maintaining a Collaborative framework and feel throughout. The case participants learned how they can break down the end game into productive and mutually rewarding steps without succumbing to the traps of traditional distributive bargaining. Participants learned how to generate  and test creative options based on both parties' interests in ways that allow the professionals and parties to reach closure with respect and care.

Third Annual Symposium

The Symposium provided an introduction to Collaborative Practice to prospective referral sources and professionals interested in learning more about the collaborative divorce.

New York City May 19, 2011 “ Conference Center 570 Lexington Avenue, New York City