Become a Professional Mediator – Headquartered in Houston, Texas, USA, since 1993
Handicap accessible training venue: ZOOM live!
Texas Justice Center for Mediation and Arbitration in Bellaire off I-610 West Loop.
Ranch Office Conference Room and Virtual Office
Heights Mediation Center
Advanced Family and Divorce Mediation Training
Under standards adopted by the Texas Mediation Trainers Roundtable, Texas Bar Association, and Texas State Statute, this course includes the four hours of domestic violence training required under Texas statute.
The four hours of domestic violence training can also be taken alone, if student already is a family mediator.
Click here to register for the Advanced Family and Divorce Mediation course
Curriculum
Minimum course time: **30 hours
Effort to incorporate Academy of Family Mediators requirements, including the following identified outcomes-
- Awareness of theories and current research and literature underlying conflict and its resolution, and their applicability to family mediation;
- Ability to screen for appropriateness of mediation, including knowledge and ability to screen for domestic violence and an awareness of appropriate response(s) when domestic violence or its potential has been identified;
- Awareness of the consequences of separation/divorce for adults and children;
- Ability to work with the substantive information encountered in separation/divorce mediation;
- Ability to facilitate problem-solving between the parties, especially in the areas of divorce including, but not limited to, parenting, support, division of assets/liabilities, insurance, tax filing, and the like; and
- Ability to recognize when the assistance of other professionals might be helpful to the mediation process and to facilitate this discussion with the parties.
Below are the six main topics covered:
I.Family Law
- Overview of legal system and terms relating to family law
- History and evolution of legal rights of parents
- Parentage (never married parents)
- Suits affecting the parent-child relationship (SAPCR)
- Dissolution of marriage
- Adult guardianship
- Allocation of resources
- Itemization, characterization, valuation and division of assets and liabilities
- Finances
- Taxes
- Parenting Plans
- Conservatorship
- Parental rights and duties
- Parental access
- Child support
- Non-parental access (grandparents, etc.)
- Special issues of children with disabilities
II.Family Dynamics
- Family Systems
- Blended Families
- Psychological aspects of divorce and parenting
III.Child Development
- Stages of development
- Impact and response to divorce
IV. Family Violence
- Screening
- Impact of statutory requirements
- Dynamics. of family violence patterns, including power imbalances
- Effect of family violence on children
- Child abuse
- Substance abuse
- Stalking
- Protective orders
- Reporting laws and procedures
- Anger management
- Mediation safety plans, including caucus models
- Violent children
V. Practice Considerations
- Ethics
- Agreement memorialization
- Unauthorized practice of law (UPL)
- Pro se cases
- Enforcement
- Styles-of-mediation through Self-awareness
- Impact of cultural differences
- Marketing tips and considerations
VI. Skills
- Communication
- Relationship-building
- Information gathering
- Problem solving
- Conflict resolution theory
- Referrals to professional support services (such as, social study/psychological evaluation,
therapy, parenting education program, anger management counseling, family violence shelter,
certified financial planning, certified public accountancy, etc.)
Role Play: Includes demonstrations, role-plays, and debriefing.
* Adopted September 11, 2000
** Note that TMTR, in agreement with other national and state organizations using the standards promoted by ACR, has raised the number of required hours to accommodate the need for training on domestic violence and to raise the time spent on role-play.
Lecturers
Dr. Barbara Sunderland Manousso, Ph.D., MPH, CFRE
Texas Credentialed Distinguished Mediator
Certified Collaborative Law Mediator
2018 LifeTime Achievement Award from the Association for Conflict Resolution Houston Chapter
2019 Texas Association of Mediators Suzanne Adams Award (Texas’ top mediator)
2018 Houston Business Journal’s Woman Who Means Business for Professional Services
2016 Houston Woman’s Magazine, One of Fifty Most Influential Women in Houston
Fellow of the World Mediation Association
Professor at the University of St. Thomas – Center for International Studies-Global Conflict Management
Former Chair of the Health Care Section of the International Association for Conflict Resolution
Former Chair of the Workplace Section of the International Association for Conflict Resolution
Former Chair of the Education, Research, and Training Section of the International Association for Conflict Resolution
Past President of the Association for Conflict Resolution Houston Chapter
Parenting Coordinator
Member of the University of Texas Consortium on Aging
Board Member of the Houston Gerontology Society
Melissa Back, J.D., Mediator, Arbitrator, Director at Manousso Mediation
Mediator, Arbitrator, Attorney, Adjunct Professor at the University of St. Thomas – Center for International Studies in Global Conflict Management
Co-Convener of the Texas Mediators Trainers Roundtable
Immediate-past present of the Texas Association of Mediators
Board Member and former President of the Association for Conflict Resolution Houston Chapter
EEOC Contract Mediator
Texas Credentialed Mediator
Parenting Coordinator and Facilitator
Lori LaConta, Esq., MBA, Mediator, Arbitrator
Texas Credentialed Distinguished Mediator
Certified Arbitrator
Immediate Past President of the Texas Association of Mediators
Professor in Conflict Management
President of Labor Employment Relations Association (LERA) Houston Chapter
Past-President of the Association for Conflict Resolution Houston Chapter
American Arbitration Association panelist
Federal Mediation and Conciliation Services
Board Member of the Texas Association of Mediators
Judge Josefina Rendon, J.D., Mediator
Former Harris County District Civil Court 165
City of Houston Municipal Judge
Texas Credentialed Distinguished Mediator
Past President of the Texas Association of Mediators
President-elect of the Association for Conflict Resolution Houston Chapter
Dr. J. Scott Creighton
Mediator – Arbitrator
Psychologist
Texas Credentialed Mediator
__________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Denise French, MAFF, CVA, CRPC, CDFA
Founder & Sr. Advisor, Divorce Strategies Group
1095 Evergreen Circle, Suite 200, The Woodlands, TX 77380
Office: 281-505-8177
Fax: 832-442-4912
www.DivorceStrategiesGroup.com
______________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Patricia Barrett, CFP, CDFA, Mediator
Certified Financial Planner
Certified Divorce Financial Analyst
Patricia Barrett is a Certified Financial Planner and Certified Divorce Financial Analyst. She is also a trained, experienced mediator. For 15 years, she has been self-employed, working with individuals considering or going through divorce to help them to analyze their future financial security and reach a settlement. She creates a unique set of tables to illustrate a budget, tax situation, and 20-year long-term cash flow to analyze future financial security. This is invaluable to one who is unsure of whether to keep the house or whether they will be okay financially. While she works with many attorneys in the Houston area to guide their clients through the financial side of the divorce litigation, she also offers “Cooperative Divorce”, where she helps them avoid litigation. She acts as a neutral to help them settle the finances smoothly. She then co-mediates with a family law attorney to assure that their legal questions are answered. This helps the couple shorten the process, saving many thousands of dollars as they resolve the division of assets before employing an attorney to handle the paperwork.
Prior to forming her own company, she worked for a Houston Trust Company as the Manager of their Financial Planning Department. Patricia presents seminars to the public, therapist organizations, financial organizations, CPAs, attorneys and divorce support groups to educate them in financial and divorce issues. She is an instructor for Manousso Mediation’s Advanced Family Mediation Training quarterly. She also speaks for the Guide to Good Divorce series given by prominent Houston attorney, Trey Yates.
Lifetime Planning, LLC
Love, Marriage, and Money
Email: pb@lifetimeplanning.cc
Website: https://LifeTimePlanning.cc
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Esteban Mayers, MA, Mediator
Cultural Diversity Specialist and Expert in Children Protective Services
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Norma Trusch, J.D., Mediator, Collaborative Law
For over thirty years, Norma Trusch has been one of Houston’s leading divorce family attorneys and mediators. She is world renowned for Collaborative Mediation, as well as being the former president of the international organization on collaborative law and process.
Don Tomlinson, J.D., Mediator, Arbitrator
Former Ethics Professor at Texas A & M,
Attorney, Mediator, Arbitrator
Annette Henry, J.D., Mediator, Arbitrator
Annette is a specialist in family divorce and mediation. She brings over twenty years of expertise to our students, whether students are or are not attorneys, divorce and child custody become less mysterious.