Belfast, Maine — A Relational Health Certificate Program, “Promoting a Positive Workplace & Community Culture,” will be offered in eight day-long sessions, Oct. 20– May 18 at the University of Maine Hutchinson Center. Educational leaders, executive directors, administrators,  select and school board members, non-profit leaders, human resource professionals, mental health professionals, business leaders and those interested in developing skills to create a more positive community, are invited to register.

Participants will earn a University of Maine certificate in relational health; 5.4 CEU and 54 contact hours are also available. To register online: hutchinsoncenter.umaine.edu/professional- development-programs.

Workshop topics include an introduction to relational health, creating a healthy work culture and civility, transformative mediation-part one, transformative mediation-part two, restorative practices and approaches, nonviolent communication, diversity awareness and forgiveness and relational mindfulness.

Participants will become proficient in developing strategies to promote a positive workplace culture utilizing best practices, including learning how to create and maintain an efficient, productive and diverse team; having critical and crucial conversations, and working through difficult team dynamics.

Relational Health Certificate Program faculty and facilitators include Barbara Blazej, UMaine educator and trainer in restorative practices; Joanne Boynton, UMaine educator for Peace and Reconciliation Program; Will Galloway, UMaine educator for Peace and Reconciliation Program and Head of the Watershed School, Camden, ME; Peggy Smith, certified nonviolent communication trainer and co-founder of the MaineNVCNetwork;Fran Sulinski, Assistant Director of UMaine Cooperative Extension, Larraine Brown, Executive Director of the Restorative Justice Project and Mary Doyle, Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction Instructor and owner of ‘Mindfulness to Work’.

The Hutchinson Center, an outreach center of the University of Maine, is committed to offering high-quality professional development programs to the greater Midcoast Maine community.

For more information or to request an accommodation: visit hutchinsoncenter.umaine.edu or contact Diana McSorley, 338.8093, diana.mcsorley@maine.edu.