school of dialogue
London
Arabella Tresilian MAHons PGCE FRSA Dialogue Facilitator, Mediator & Conflict
Coach: Mediation, fully-accredited by the Centre for Effective Dispute
Resolution (CEDR) Dispute resolution for Employment, Workplace, Civil,
Commercial & Community cases Specialist in health and social care, including
mental health, autism & disabilities Download a copy of my one-page profile
here: Arabella Tresilian Mediator Profile Overview ‘Arabella Tresilian is a
CEDR-accredited mediator, and a conflict resolution trainer, specialising in
facilitating dispute resolution and employee wellbeing in the public sector. She
has twenty years’ experience as a management consultant, leader and educator,
and set up the School of Dialogue to teach conflict resolution skills. Arabella
mediates independently and on behalf of the Medical Mediation Foundation,
Resolve West and other panels where she specialises in lending her ‘expertise by
experience’ in the fields of mental health and neurodiversity. Arabella’s 70+
case history since 2016 include mediations in the fields of Judicial Review,
Court of Protection, Mental Health Act, Mental Capacity Act, Local Government,
workplace, employment, community and public sector dispute resolution.’ I am an
independent consultant specialising in dialogue facilitation, conflict
resolution and partnership-building. My business development experience, studies
in educational leadership and experience in dispute resolution combine
effectively to allow me to support organisations, employees, families and
individuals in finding win-win resolutions within complex scenarios. I have 20
years experience working in a strategic capacity for public, private and third
sector organisations in the UK and overseas, and I have specialist consulting
experience in the fields of sustainability, education and health/social care. I
have also taught and managed at secondary level internationally and in the
independent sector in the UK, and founded/directed a theatre company devoted to
promoting the understanding of mental health and social exclusion. I am a
CEDR-Accredited Mediator qualified to undertake employment, workplace,
commercial, civil and community mediation. In 2017 I became a CEDR Associate
with the Centre for Effective Dispute Resolution (CEDR), joining their
world-renowned training faculty. In the community setting, I am a Certificated
Mediator with Resolve West (previously Bristol Mediation) resolving neighbour
disputes and hate crime cases. I am also the cofounder of Equisphere
Employability and a workplace mental health trainer for Bath Mind. In the
healthcare setting, I am a mediator, trainer and conflict coach with the Medical
Mediation Foundation. I am a Quality Improvement Coach with the Q Community (NHS
Improvement & Health Foundation) and a Public & Patient Involvement advisor for
the National Institute of Health Research (NIHR). I am a Member of End of Life
Doula UK and have undertaken Advance Care Planning training with Living Well
Dying Well. I am also a qualified Mental Health First Aid Instructor training
groups to become Mental Health First Aiders in their contexts. I am a member of
the Civil Mediation Council as a Member of the Association of South West
Mediators. I abide by the European Code of Conduct for Mediators. I have DBS
clearance and am fully insured as a mediator, trainer,educator, mentor and
coach. Professional Experience & Skills Overview Facilitation and Organisational
Dialogue Strategic development and team coaching in the workplace Communications
and engagement for public-facing organisations Design and delivery of
multi-organisational commercial partnerships Stakeholder engagement for
effective policy development Conflict Intervention and Negotiation Interpersonal
mediation and conflict resolution for workplace contexts Conflict coaching and
mediation for highly-escalated community conflicts Brokerage of
interorganisational partnerships for socio-economic benefit Leadership Design /
delivery of Leadership Skills for Employability training for University of Bath
Postgraduate certificate in Educational Leadership & Management (2011) Founder
of three social enterprises and experienced team leader and manager
International Competence Partnerships negotiator for European Green Capital 2015
Merger & Acquisition consultancy – UK/Spain Educator in vocational, business and
enterprise skills – Coimbatore, India Training and Coaching Experienced teacher,
trainer, mentor and coach specialising in communication Mentor to young leaders
in enterprise on Future Talent programme Mental Health First Aider and
specialist trainer in mental health with Mind Charity My style and my
specialisms I came to the practice of Conflict Resolution and Mediation through
two distinct routes. One was through doing management consulting in the public
and private sectors, and coming to understand just how much stress, inefficiency
and sadness arises from communication and conflict difficulties in the
workplace. The other route was through being a patient, a parent of children
with disabilities and a family carer, and witnessing how difficult it can be to
make plans for the future when the present involves difficult discussions and
many people. So I specialise in making sure that people feel comfortable with
the process they undertake with me, and that it leads them towards feeling
comfortable and confident about their future. I aim to be thoroughly supportive,
reassuring and encouraging at all times. My professional work and personal
experience in health and social care mean that I am particularly experienced in
supporting people who are living with any form of illness, disability, mental
health condition or life-limiting condition. I have particular personal
experience of working with people who are deaf or hearing impaired, on the
autism spectrum, experiencing mental illness and living with dementia or stroke.
Why I love being a mediator I came to mediation through a confluence of
circumstances which made me think, ‘There must be a better way for people to
deal with their difficulties than to threaten legal action, or refuse to engage
in communication at all!’ I realised that a great deal of my management
consultancy work was really… conflict resolution. It gave me such pleasure and
relief when long-held rifts within and between teams melted away after some
good, authentic communication. This piqued my interest to find out more about
the art of conflict resolution, and I did my first certificated training, and
started practising as a community mediator. Later I qualified as a civil and
employment mediator, and have been mediating ever since. It’s astonishing to
witness people’s lives turn from a turmoil of distressing, intractable
‘stuckness’, to a new phase in which, for example, neighbours can conceive of
greeting each other again; or work colleagues re-establish trust between each
other after maybe years of mistrust, stress and non-communication. Mediation
takes empathy, patience and persistence, and it is a skill I will develop and
hone endlessly over years to come, but its core aspect is a belief that people
really can find peace again, given the right support and a safe space to explore
options for settling differences. Facilitating such processes is a real honour.
Nothing beats the sight of former disputants smiling, shaking hands, or even
(more often than you would think) hugging, at the end of a mediation.
