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Pre-Symposium Training

We are pleased to offer two options for pre‑symposium training this year, each delivered by experienced Restorative Justice practitioners or mediators. These trainings will be held on November 14 and 15, 2026.

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Nous sommes heureux de proposer deux options de formation pré‑symposium cette année, chacune animée par des praticiens ou médiateurs expérimentés en justice réparatrice. Ces formations auront lieu les 14 et 15 novembre 2026.

RJABC’s Regional Restorative Justice Training

FACILITATED BY: Christianne Paras and Alana Abramson 

RJABC’s Regional Restorative Justice Trainingis an intensive two-day training designed for
restorative justice (RJ) practitioners to move "beyond the script" and deepen their practice through a lens of cultural safety, decolonization and trauma-informed care.


The curriculum invites participants to critically interrogate modern RJ practices, decenter Western linear processes, and explore holistic healing strategies grounded in Indigenous wisdom. By grounding the working relational accountability and community-informed approaches, this training empowers facilitators to design restorative processes that uphold dignity and self-determination while fostering authentic healing of every participant.


Training Topics & Learning Journey


Day1: Foundations of Culturally Responsive & Decolonized Practice

  • Decolonizing Restorative Justice: Defining transformative approaches and interrogating the tension between institutional and community needs.

  • The Facilitator Power Audit: A critical look at structural, epistemic, and relational power, exploring whose knowledge is deemed legitimate and how a practitioner’s identity shapes the space.

  • Culturally Responsive Restorative Practice: Moving beyond mere cultural awareness to addressing social identity, privilege, oppression, and intersectionality in practice.

  • Achieving Cultural Safety: Shifting from "check-box" protocols to outcomes-based safety verified by the participants themselves.

 

Day 2: Trauma-Informed Care and Holistic Healing, & Victim and Survivor-Centered Practice

  • Trauma-Informed Practice (TIP): Understanding the physiological and psychological impacts of trauma and applying core principles of safety, choice, and collaboration.

  • Holistic & Intergenerational Trauma: Visualizing the "violence iceberg" to understand how historical and compounding harms impact an individual's experience with justice.[RA1]

  • Indigenous Lens on Healing: Exploring elements of healing—such as spiritual connection, ceremony, and relationships—and why there is no one-size-fits-all formula.

  • Victim- & Survivor-Centered Practice & Kaleidoscopic Justice: Reviewing a "menu of processes" including indirect dialogue, letter writing, and rituals to meet the diverse justice needs of survivors.

Victim Engagement Training

Strengthening victim inclusion is essential to meaningful restorative justice practice. This two‑day training is designed to build confidence and skill in engaging victims, understanding their needs, and representing their interests when direct participation is not possible. This session offers a collaborative, practical learning experience grounded in real‑world scenarios.

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Participants will explore best practices for victim engagement, refine communication and interviewing skills, and learn how to act as a surrogate victim when safety, readiness, or circumstances prevent direct involvement. The training blends large‑group discussions, demonstrations, small‑group exercises, and role plays to support hands‑on learning.

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What You Will Learn

  • Understanding restorative justice processes and the role of victims within them

  • How to make effective first contact (letters, phone calls, opening comments, avoiding common pitfalls)

  • Identifying and working with victim needs and interests

  • Assessing readiness and appropriateness for participation

  • Communication skills including active listening, questioning, reframing, and managing expectations

  • Interviewing techniques for reluctant, unsure, or escalated victims

  • How to represent victim interests when acting as a surrogate

  • Process design when victims cannot or choose not to participate

 

What to Expect

This is an interactive, practice‑focused training. Participants can expect:

  • Large‑group discussions to explore concepts and share experience

  • Small‑group exercises using real‑world scenarios and victim impact statements

  • Demonstrations of victim interviews and surrogate roles

  • Role plays to practice mediation, interviewing, and decision‑making

  • Guided debriefs to strengthen confidence and refine skills

  • A supportive learning environment that encourages reflection, collaboration, and growth

 

By the end of the session, participants will leave with stronger skills, clearer frameworks, and increased confidence in supporting victims and representing their interests within restorative justice processes.

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