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Other Events
MAM Events
External Professional Development Opportunity
MAMP Winter Book Club
(Find more details and a link to register HERE!)
Winter 2026
Difficult Conversations: How to Discuss What Matters Most
Tricky conversations during the holiday season can be an unwelcome family tradition, or become an unexpected gift! You’re invited to join MAMP’s book club focused on Difficult Conversations: How to Discuss What Matters Most (3rd Edition), based on research from the Harvard Negotiation Project. Together, we’ll learn and discuss step-by-step tools and practical advice for turning stress, avoidance, defensiveness, and discomfort into healthy, productive conversations at home and at work.
Wednesdays, November 4, 11, 18 and December 2, 9 and 16
12 - 1 pm ET
This information is being shared as part of MAM's ongoing commitment to making members aware of external professional development opportunities that may be of interest.
MAM Conference
& Annual Meeting
Exploring the Origins, Uses, and Modalities
of Restorative Justice in Maine and Beyond
4.25 General CLE Credits
Approved by The Maine Overseers of the Bar
Date: Friday, November 20, 2026
Time: 9:00 AM - 4:00 PM
Location: University of Maine School of Law - Maine Graduate and Professional Center, 300 Fore Street, Portland, Maine.
Registration: Only 10 spaces available
Cost: Lunch Included
Description: As a method of addressing conflict and harm, restorative practices have grown in popularity over recent years in various settings, including schools, workplaces, families, courts, municipalities, and beyond. This year’s annual conference for the Maine Association of Mediators invites members, non-members, students, RJ practitioners, educators, lawyers, and others to learn more about restorative practices from Dr. David Karp - a nationally recognized leader in the field who has written extensively on the subject and who leads the Center for Restorative Justice at the University of San Diego. Dr. Karp will join us remotely for this in-person gathering and we will be joined by members of the Maine RJ (MERJ) Coalition, including representatives from the MECASA Restorative Practices Pilot, Downeast Restorative Justice, and the Maine Department of Corrections. We welcome your presence, your wisdom, and your questions as we promote shared learning and peacebuilding.
Morning Keynote Presenter: David Karp
Restorative Approaches to Conflict and Harm
David Karp is Professor of Leadership and Director of the Center for Restorative Justice in the School of Leadership and Education Sciences at the University of San Diego. His current scholarship focuses on restorative justice in community and educational settings. For his work on campus restorative justice, he was the recipient of the 2019 Leadership and Innovation Award from the National Association of Community and Restorative Justice and the 2011 Donald D. Gehring Award from the Association for Student Conduct Administration. David has published more than 100 academic papers and six books, including The Little Book of Restorative Justice for Colleges and Universities, Wounds That Do Not Bind: Victim-Based Perspectives on the Death Penalty and The Community Justice Ideal. David is co-principal investigator for the National Center on Restorative Justice. He has previously served as Associate Dean of Student Affairs and Professor of Sociology at Skidmore College. David received a BA in Peace and Conflict Studies from the University of California at Berkeley and a PhD in Sociology from the University of Washington.
Afternoon Panel Presentation: Restorative Justice in Maine: Current Efforts, Providers, and Organizational Structures
Panelists:
Sarah Mattox (aka Mattox)
Mattox has been in the Community Restorative Justice field since 2011 when she joined the staff at the Restorative Justice Project based in Belfast. In the role of Court Diversion Coordinator, she had the distinction privilege of being the first person in Maine to work full-time facilitating community-based restorative justice processes, recruiting, training, and supporting volunteer mentors and facilitators and guiding program development. She has witnessed many twists and turns in the evolution of the restorative justice field in Maine since and is keen to see what the coming years will bring. Mattox is currently serving as the restorative practices pilot site coordinator with the Maine Coalition Against Sexual Assault.
Stephanie O’Reilly
Stephanie O’Reilly is the Restorative Justice Manager for the Maine Department of Corrections, guiding facility coordinators in building trauma-informed, survivor-centered restorative dialogue programs across the state. Stephanie’s path to restorative work began in mediation, leading her to complete the University of San Diego’s Restorative Justice and Leadership professional certificate. A psychiatric social worker by training with expertise in Motivational Interviewing, she holds master’s degrees in Community Mental Health & Substance Abuse Treatment and Justice Public Administration. Bringing 30 years of combined experience in education, social services, and corrections, Stephanie is dedicated to advancing active accountability, policy reform, and healing-centered transformation in justice systems.
Leslie Ross
Leslie Ross is the Program and Case Coordinator for Downeast Restorative Justice. She inherited from her familial elders strong visions of the possibility of a just world and just communities of inclusion, compassion and dialogue. She moved to Maine in 2014, where she is engaged in restorative and transformative work and communities. Leslie sees her current restorative work as a natural development and continuous journey. She believes in the healing potential that can arise when we are given the opportunity to see each other whole. She is looking towards a time when it is common practice that response to harm is held by the affected communities themselves.
Schedule:
9:00 - 9:45 - MAM Membership Annual Meeting (All Welcome)
In-person with virtual option. If you would like to attend the annual meeting virtually at no cost please contact administrator@mainemediators.org
9:45 - 10:15 Conference Check-In and Coffee
10:15 - 10:30 Opening Remarks
10:30 - 12:00 Keynote - David Karp
12:00 - 1:00 Lunch and Networking (Lunch is included)
1:00 - 2:30 Restorative Justice in Maine Panel
2:30 - 2:45 Break
2:45 - 3:30 Discussion: Supporting Restorative Justice in Maine: Opportunities for Collaboration and Engagement
3:30 - 4:00 Closing Circle
The Maine Association of Mediators is delighted to present this in-person event and hope to see you there. Please visit our website for updates.
https://www.mainemediators.org/
Contact our administrator Mary with questions at:
administrator@mainemediators.org
Domestic Abuse & IPV Screening
Training for Mediators
6 hours CLE Approved by Maine Overseers of the Bar
includes 1 hour of Ethics
The Maine Association of Mediators (MAM) is offering Domestic Abuse & IPV Screening for Mediators, a course designed to help meet the requirements to apply to the Court Alternative Dispute Resolution Services (CADRES) roster and assist all mediators with this essential skill. This course is designed to meet the eight (8) hour CADRES roster training requirement for domestic abuse, including intimate partner violence (IPV) and coercive control screening.
This training was developed by longtime CADRES mediator Brenda Mitchell who dedicated her career to giving a voice to victims of abuse through training and advocacy. Erin Clough, Karen Groat, and Terri DeCoster are pleased to continue the tradition of hosting this training annually in collaboration with MAM. The training will also include a presentation by attorney’s from Pine Tree Legal Assistance.
Through this course, mediators will learn how to:
Define Domestic Abuse, Intimate Partner Violence (IPV) and forms of coercive control, understand their effects on communication, and practice methods of screening.
Screen for a history or pattern of domestic abuse/IPV in the relationship.
Develop strategies for mediating when there is a history of domestic abuse.
Develop a safety plan for before, during, and after the mediation session.
When: December 7, 2026
Time: 8:30 AM - 4:30 PM
with 1.5 Hours of Training Materials and Pre-work
Location: Zoom
(Your zoom invite will be emailed to you before the event)
Registration Information:
Participants will receive training materials and a certificate of attendance.
Cost:
$175.00 for Non-MAM Members
$150.00 for MAM Members
$50.00 Refresher Fee
(For anyone who has previously taken the 8 hour training.)
Trainers:
Erin Clough, Esq. holds a B.A. in psychology from Emory University and a J.D. from the Boston College School of Law. Erin is an assistant Attorney General in the Child Protection Division of the Maine Office of the Attorney General where she represents the Department of Health and Human Services in child welfare cases. Erin has been an attorney for over 20 years and a mediator for 10. Prior to joining the AG’s office in 2022, Erin worked in various capacities to help families navigate crises in a child-focused way. She served on the court rosters for family matters, small claims, and forcible entry and detainer (evictions); mediated for families privately; and served as a guardian ad litem representing children in child protection cases, family matters, and guardianship cases. Erin and Karen worked closely together in a community mediation setting with a goal of making mediation more accessible to more families statewide. Erin has a particular interest in domestic violence and the impact that it has on children and families.
Terri DeCoster, MS is a mediator, co-parent educator, and divorce, co-parenting, and stepparent coach with more than 20 years of experience working with individuals and families navigating separation, divorce, and changing family relationships.She helps clients communicate more effectively, clarify what matters most, and make informed decisions for themselves and their families. Central to her work is keeping the experience of the child present in adult conversations and helping parents consider how family changes and decisions may be experienced by their children. She also has specialized training in high-conflict divorce and co-parenting.Terri is a founding member and longtime facilitator at the Kids First Center and serves on the Maine court roster for family matters. She also mediates through the UMA Mediation Program and Maine Agricultural Mediation Program. She holds a master’s degree in counseling psychology.
Karen Groat has enjoyed over 25 years of mediation, consulting, and teaching and currently is adjunct faculty at University of Maine @ Augusta in Justice Studies. As former director of two Family Mediation programs, she worked extensively with mediators, families, communities and organizations specializing in complex family matters and workplace disputes. An experienced Transformative practitioner and conflict coach, Karen combines research from neuroscience, trauma-informed care, and relational practice to assist families as they navigate the many life transitions often exacerbated by loss or grief. In 2018, she expanded work in collaboration with the University of Maine Cooperative Extension for farmer well-being to include Farm Coaching and agricultural mediation (MAMP) addressing issues impacting Maine’s agriculture and rural communities and farm succession planning.
Questions?
Contact Karen Groat at karen.groat@maine.edu
or Mary at administrator@mainemediators.org
Copyright @2017 Maine Association of Mediators.
P.O. Box 8187, Portland, ME 04104, Click to Email.
