Winnie - Pennsylvania Divorce Mediation

Technical Bio
Winnie Backlund
Winnie Backlund is a full time mediator, trainer, and conflict coach with 20 years of experience
in the field of conflict resolution. For 10 years she was Executive Director of Montgomery
County Mediation Center (MCMC), Norristown, PA, a community mediation center that
provides mediation, facilitation, and training.
As an experienced conflict resolution trainer and educator, Ms Backlund trains and mentors new
mediators and presents mediation and conflict resolution programs locally, state wide and
nationally for various organizations. Ms. Backlund is a member of the Court Custody Mediation
Advisory Panel in Montgomery County, PA. and a Court Approved Mediator Supervisor. She is
a past president of Pennsylvania Council of Mediators (PCM), former editor of PCM’s
newsletter, “The Report,” and was a participant of the Model Standards Symposium that
developed the “Model Standards of Practice for Family and Divorce Mediation” published in
2000.
Ms. Backlund is a Certified Transformative Mediator, a Fellow of the Institute for the Study of
Conflict Transformation, Inc. (a national think tank whose purpose is to promote the
understanding of conflict and intervention processes from the Transformative perspective), an
Advanced Practitioner Member of Association for Conflict Resolution (ACR), and a member of
Association for Family and Conciliation Courts (AFCC).
Prior to focusing her professional activities to the field of mediation and conflict resolution, Ms.
Backlund was a management consultant to national and international companies as well as
Assistant Professor of Psychology, adjunct faculty member of Philadelphia University and
Montgomery County Community College. She earned a B.A in Psychology from Ithaca College
and M.Ed. in Counseling from Antioch University.
Employment Experience
Currently Director of Mediation and Training
Montgomery County Mediation Center, Norristown, PA
1990 - 1999 Executive Director
Montgomery County Mediation Center, Norristown, PA
Past employment
Assistant Professor of Psychology, Adjunct Faculty
Montgomery County Community College and
Philadelphia University (formerly Philadelphia College of Textiles
and Science)
Research Associate for management consulting firm
Crossroads Career Planning Corporation, Philadelphia, PA
Montgomery County Juvenile Probation Department
New York City Department of Social Services – Child Protective Services
Caseworker

Education
Masters of Education in Counseling, Antioch University
Bachelor of Arts in Psychology, Ithaca College
Select Professional Certifications and Training
Certified Transformative Mediator
Pennsylvania Licensed Professional Counselor, PC 001481
Montgomery County Court Custody Mediation Orientation Program, Court Approved Supervisor
Divorce and Child Custody Mediation Training, CDR, Boulder, CO
Child Protection and Dependency Mediation Institute, Association of Family and Conciliation
Courts
Micro focus – The Process and Practice of Transformative Mediation
Adult Guardianship Mediation
Train the Trainer, Institute for the Study of Conflict Transformation, 2000
Train the Trainer, Institute for the Study of Conflict Transformation, 2003
Mediation Skills Training, Eastern Pennsylvania Mediation Service
Americans with Disabilities Workshop, Key Bridge Foundation, Virginia
Mediation Training, American Arbitration Association
Victim Offender Conferencing Training, Mennonite Central Committee
Train the Trainer - Peer Mediation, Friends Conflict Resolution Program
Outside Mediator Training, United States Postal Service REDRESS Program
Professional Affiliations
Institute for the Study of Conflict Transformation, Fellow
Association for Conflict Resolution, Advanced Practitioner Member
Association of Family and Conciliation Courts
Pennsylvania Council of Mediators - Chair, 1995-1997
Victim Offender Mediation Association
National Association for Community Mediation
Pennsylvania Counselors Association
Montgomery County Custody Mediation Orientation Program Advisory Panel Member
Select Presentations and Training
Building Strong Families Conference - "Mediation as a Process to Handle Family Conflict"
40 hours "Family Mediation Training"
25 hours "Parent-Adolescent Mediation Workshop"
A four workshop “Screening for Domestic Abuse”
Issues of Capacity in Mediation
Mediation Screening for Capacity
Temple University School of Law, child custody mediation clinical program -
“Power Imbalances in Family Mediation”
“An Overview of Transformative Mediation”
A three hour workshop "Dealing with anger in mediation"
A four hour workshop "Effective Meeting Facilitation"
A four hour workshop "Conflict and Communication - Responses to Effect Change"
A six hour workshop "Conflict Management in the Workplace"
5 day advanced mediation training for USPS, REDRESS® managers

3 day mediation training for USPS REDRESS® mediators
A 6 hour workshop for Department of Aging Ombudsman
3 day Adult Guardianship Mediation Training with the Center for Social Gerontology
Aging with Autonomy: Mediation as a Resource for Seniors
2003 ACR Conference – “Community Centers in Transition”
“Mediating Important Decision Making in Elder Care Planning”
Building Bridges Conference - "Mediation & Community Inclusion"
30 hours "Basic Mediation Skills Workshop"
Peer Mediation Training for middle school and high school students
A 2 hour workshop "Dealing with Conflict" for Youth Aid Panel members
Honors
Who's Who in the World, 1995 edition
Who's Who in the East, 1984 thru 1995
The National Distinguished Service Registry of Counseling and Development, 1989 edition
Community Participation
Child Find of America - Volunteer mediator for cases involving child abduction
United States Ski Association - Alpine Official
Montgomery County Commission on Women and Families 2000 - 2003
Montgomery County Youth Center – Board of Managers 1993 – 2000
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