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manousso_new_logo7 Become a Professional Mediator – Headquartered in Houston, Texas, USA, since 1993

@Do you have questions?
There are many answers below with training dates and fees.  Or call!

Click here for tuition and special discounts, like our early bird and active college student discounts. Or call, Dr. Barbara Manousso at 713/557-1010.  Email is mediation@Manousso.us

ZOOM live: Our trainings are interactive/real time ZOOM training and fun online.  Call us at (713)557-1010 text/talk!

Since 1993, we have offered the best in the world-wide mediation training with applauded ADR leadership.  Our lecturers are active mediators and arbitrators, ADR leaders, practitioners, academics, theorists, and authors with quality credentials and admired professional standing.  The staff of Manousso Mediation and Arbitration, LLC: Solution2Conflict are actively engaged worldwide.

Have you listened to Manousso Musing on PodCasts or YouTube?  Meet the Titans of Mediation with Dr. Manousso.

Before you register for any training, make sure that your trainers meet the qualifications for, and are members of, professional mediation organizations, such as the Texas Association of Mediators, Texas Mediators Trainers Round Table (TMTR) and the Texas Credentialing Association, or you won’t be getting a quality training.  Your trainers must be actively involved in practice and professional development!

Manousso Mediation and Arbitration, LLC. is an accredited sponsor of continuing education credits (CEU), approved by the State Bar of Texas, Committee on MCLE, as well as other professional organizations, such as CEU for CPA, LPC, and HR.

We are proud members of and trainers for the Houston Area Better Business Bureau and many other consumer groups and international panels.

Arbitration Training ONLINE with ZOOM: live and interactive.

($550.00) Ask about special discounts.

Earn MCLE/CEU 10 and 4 in ethics for JD, CPA, LPC, SW, HR on Friday, 24 January 2025, from 9:00 AM until 5:30 PM, plus writing a short  opinion/decision that will be explained in class and a meet up on Tuesday, 28 January 2025, from 7 PM until 8 PM.


Basic Mediation Training ZOOM LIVE and INTERACTIVE. 40 hours.

($975) Ask about special discounts.

Earn MCLE/CEU 40 and 4 in ethics for JD, CPA, LPC, SW, HR, includes Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR training), handouts, and notebooks:

Our next fabulous basic mediation training class will  be Wednesday to Friday, January 8, 9, 10, 2025, and then the next week on Tuesday and Wednesday, January 14th and 15th, 2025, from 10 AM to 6:30 PM daily.

All classes will be ZOOM live and interactive. Students must be ON CAMERA and attentive for the whole program for certificate and MCLE/CEU affirmative.


Advanced Mediation: Family-Divorce-Child Custody training live, interactive, on ZOOM. 30 hours.

($895) Ask about special discounts.

Earn MCLE/CEU 30 and 4 in ethics for JD, CPA, LPC, SW, HR.

Class will be held from Tuesday to Friday – on February 25, 26, 27, 28, 2025, from 10 AM to 6:00 PM.  Join the eleven lecturers in this interactive class on ZOOM!

For attorneys, mediators, and family professionals: 

If you are already an attorney or mediator who does not have the required Texas Statute domestic violence (DV) training, you can take the DV only  class that will be held on Tuesday, 25 February 2025, from 1 PM until 5:00 PM, for only $150.00

Please send an email note with your name to mediation@manousso.us with subject:
Domestic Violence Certificate > MCLE!

This DV class is INCLUDED in our Advance Family 30 hours of training above.

Parenting Coordination and Facilitation Training

($525) Ask about special discounts.

ZOOM live and interactive: Sign up for this and Advance Family at the same time and use the early bird discount (SAVE $$$) for both classes

16 hours-MCLE/CEU 16 and 4 in ethics for JD, CPA, LPC, SW, HR

In 2025, Friday and Saturday, April 4th and 5th, 2025, from 9:00AM until 5:30PM, daily.  >> AMICUS training: The PCF skills are excellent for Amicus attorneys in communicating with high conflict clients.


Elder and Adult Family Mediation Training

($600), specially discounted for family mediators.

If you have questions, call (713)557-1010. Classes are held ZOOM live and interactive.

20 hours-MCLE/CEU 20 and 3 in ethics for JD, CPA, LPC, SW, HR on Wednesday, January 29th, 1 PM to 6:30 PM, Thursday, January 30th, from 10 am until 6:00 PM, Friday, January 31st, 2025, from 10 AM until 6:00 PM

Note our NO refund policy, once you have paid for a training, but you can always reschedule online classes with a rescheduling fee of $150, if you cancel within 72 hours.

Our classes can be taken in any order, although you can’t mediate until you meet all the requirements of the Texas statute.

Classes will be held on ZOOM, so it is required for certificate attendance that students use a computer and remain on camera, ATTENTIVELY, for the duration of the training.  

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

Ranch Office Conference Room and Virtual Office

Heights Mediation Center

Brochure

The Texas Mediation Center in Bellaire and Heights Mediation Center are modern, well located, facilities dedicated to ADR meetings, where you can proudly invite your mediation and arbitration clients.

See brochure.

Read a recent article on the benefits of mediation, even with a high visibility, celebrity couple.
Divorce isn’t the end of a love story.  It is a new beginning! Do it right with mediation, embrace it, and move on!

FlierToyFront

click for divorce resources

 Get started on your financial information.
The more work that you complete before the mediation,
the less number of hours you will need in mediation. 

When divorce becomes unavoidable, use this unique interactive software to leave your marriage with your dignity intact and money in your pocket.

Don’t pay professionals for the preliminary work you can do.

Save money with Divorce Savvy

Don’t wait.  Mediation saves time and money.

Bring these items with you to mediation
to save time and money:

* IRS returns for the past 5 years
* Pay stubs for the past three months
* Current photos of your children
* Insurance policies
* Savings Account statement
* Certificate of Deposit statement
* Pension plan explanations
* Home mortgage materials
* Credit card numbers and balances.
* Home tax info from the Harris County Appraisal District
* Any current info from current home appraisal or agents
* Photos and info of items to be divided, such as boat, RV, vacation home, art, antiques, favorite couch, pets, etc…

Read the following forms.
Copies will be given to you at the mediation to sign.

Divorce Mediation and Arbitration Cancellation Policy
If a divorce mediation or arbitration has been paid and scheduled, but the parties decide to not mediate or arbitrate for any reason,
there is no refund.

Family and Divorce Mediation

Why mediation, as opposed to litigation, will save you time, big money $$$$, and family decay: 

Did you know that you don’t need to hire an attorney before you go to mediation for divorce?

Call us first at (713) 840-0828 !  Or email your question to Dr. Manousso.

We can help you find an attorney that will assist you in completing your divorce, after you have mediated your property and child custody issues.   We believe in mediation, not litigation.

If you are contemplating divorce in Texas and have considered consulting with a divorce attorney on your own, you may first want to explore the benefits of working together with a mediator in divorce mediation.

A brief glimpse of the divorce process in Texas.

Divorce mediation will not only save you and your spouse the considerable time and expense of an adversarial legal proceeding, but it will also shelter you and your children from the most harmful emotional effects of your divorce.

For these reasons, divorce mediation is a procedure that more and more divorcing couples are employing and Divorce Mediation Professionals, such as Dr. Barbara Manousso and Manousso Mediation mediators, are the professionals they are using to help them.

We don’t negotiate your divorce for you.  We assist you to make the resolution plan.  It is your life, isn’t it!

For information on the mediation process, click here.

Forms that will be signed at the mediation process.

Click here to register for Family and Divorce Mediation

Divorce Mediation in Texas

“Family mediation” means the mediation of disputes in actions for divorce, annulment, establishment of paternity, child custody or visitation, or child or spousal support.

Mediation programs can be very beneficial to people who are divorcing as well as to those who have long been divorced but who find themselves in a dispute in their post-divorce relationship. Not only can it save money but it promotes positive dispute resolution rather than adversarial procedures. That being so, it is well worth investigating by any couple facing divorce, a child custody fight, a visitation dispute, or other interpersonal conflict.

Mediation is a process that may help you resolve your case so you can have an uncontested divorce. Mediation is particularly useful in situations involving children, since it is in the interests of the children that their parents “get along” even if they will no longer live together as husband and wife. In the State of Texas, all cases that involve contested custody or visitation matters are referred to mandatory mediation, provided the parties are represented by an attorney and there is no allegation of domestic abuse.

Mediation attempts to change disputes from “win-lose” to “win-win.” Mediation is a non-adversarial process of helping people come to agreement on issues like parenting arrangements, support of children and spouses and division of real and personal property. Mediation occurs when a neutral third-party, who has training in dispute resolution, assists you and your spouse and helps you resolve the issues that are causing conflict and to make cooperative, informed decisions.


When to Use Family Mediation in Texas

Mediation can be used to resolve the entire range of family disputes either before a divorce takes place in order to consummate a marital settlement agreement, as well as after the divorce to resolve continuing disputes that might arise under a marital settlement agreement.

A history of abuse or allegations of abuse preclude mediation and the court will not refer for mandatory mediation of child custody or visitation any situation where abuse has been evident.

Mediation should not be used when there has been evidence of domestic violence or abuse or there is a great difference in power between the parties. For the mediation process to work there must be some degree of trust between the parties.


Mediation FAQ
What is divorce mediation?

Until the last 10 years or so, just about the only course for divorcing couples was to hire lawyers to do battle for them. Often the spouses would not even speak with each other, “communicating” only through their attorneys. And attorneys proliferated. The addition of “no fault” to divorce laws has given rise to an emerging alternative for divorcing couples: mediation. Mediation is the process in which the divorcing couple works out its problems, disagreements, and marital issues with a trained, impartial third party—the mediator. The mediator assists the couple in resolving its differences in a constructive way to reach a “win-win” decision rather than the adversative “win­lose” situation.

 

What is divorce arbitration?
Arbitration is one of the many processes used to resolve disputes between divorcing parties.  It is often used when couples have reached a stalemate in their divorce negotiations and wish to resolve the issues without going to court.  Divorce Arbitration is an informal type of divorce trial where couples do not want to resolve their dispute in a public courtroom.  The case is heard in a private setting before an Arbitrator.  This setting is called an arbitration hearing and is scheduled at a time and place convenient to all parties, unlike a court trial, which is scheduled subject to a trial judge’s availability.

In Divorce Arbitration, the divorcing couple and their respective attorneys choose and agree upon an Arbitrator.  If the couple is pro se, then they can chose a family arbitrator perhaps with the help of their mediator.

The Arbitrator is then presented with the specific issues preventing resolution.  Only the defined, specific issues can be heard at the Arbitration.  In Arbitration, divorcing couples may also define what procedure will be followed and how long the Arbitrator will have to render a decision, usually the decision is rendered within 10 business days.  After a hearing, the Arbitrator renders a decision, called an award, on only the specific disputed issues.  Unlike a court trial, the Arbitrator’s Award, in most cases, cannot be appealed.  Divorce Arbitration can be used at any time in the adversarial process.  The arbitration takes the place of an in-court trial or, in Collaborative Divorce or Divorce Mediation.

Benefits of Divorce Arbitration:

  • Divorcing couples select the Arbitrator who will decide their issues.
  • Divorcing couples have the option to select an Arbitrator who has specific experience in an area of interest, for example, taxes, real-estate value or management, etc.  
  • The Mediator is NEVER the Arbitrator for the same case.  This is written out in the agreement to mediate and arbitrate.
  • Divorcing couples define the specific issues to be addressed by the Arbitrator.
  • Divorcing couples pick the day, time, and location of their hearing.
  • Divorcing couples enjoy privacy, confidentiality, and a less formal setting in Arbitration, while avoiding the time, expense, and emotional distress associated with a trial in court.  The Arbitrator’s opinion is final and legally binding.  This opinion is in addition to the Mediated Settlement Agreement, not in place of it.
  • Mediation and Arbitration are two distinct alternative dispute resolution (ADR) processes, but both are helpful tools in divorce to save money, time, and emotional overflow.
How does mediation work?
As one mediator described the process, “Mediation is neither therapy, nor the law—it’s an educational process.” Usually, the couple attends an orientation session in which the mediator thoroughly explains the process of mediation such as what the couple should focus on, how they should speak to each other (keep raised voices down), and so on. The session may last for two hours. After the initial session, the couple attends three to eight one-and-a-half- to two-hour sessions in which the mediator will guide them to make their own decisions on how they wish to end their marriage. They analyze their budgets and needs, divide marital property, review their children’s needs, and reorganize their family and life-style to fit its new structure. Mediators place special emphasis on providing an acceptable form of continuity where children are concerned and may even include children in the sessions if warranted. The process allows the parties to analyze their situations and to understand each other’s needs as well as those of the children. It may alleviate the anger and bitterness that the couples initially may feel toward each other. It also makes the couple realize that although they may not be husband and wife, they are still parents. It encourages their cooperation with each other in determining their relationship with their children. Once the couple decides on what they wish to do, the mediator draws up a memorandum of understanding that specifies what issues have been resolved. This statement is then given to the couple’s respective attorneys, who will draw up a formal separation agreement based on the statement, or the couple can file it with the court.
Who are mediators?
The mediator may also be a marriage counselor, social worker, psychologist, or lawyer trained in family and divorce mediation. At any rate, the mediator should have received formal training from a recognized program or institute. They should be versed in family budgeting, the law, tax consequences of divorce, and a variety of options and alternatives crucial to contemplating divorce. There are professional mediators who earn their living by providing divorcing couples mediation services on all issues. These professionals can be invaluable in helping couples resolve property and support issues, but also will assist with custody and visitation disputes. Divorce attorneys and family counselors can often refer families to professional family law mediators. Mediators do not offer any legal advice.  They do not act in the capacity of legal counsel.  If you have legal questions, please seek an attorney.
How the Mediator Can Help.
The major differences between mediators and lawyers are that the mediator assists you and your spouse in working out your disagreements together; emphasizes the restructuring of the family from a practical point of view, in addition to the legal side; pays more attention to your emotional needs; and, is impartial, representing neither you nor your spouse, but both. Unlike the legal adversarial system, mediation is more sensitive to the integrity of the marriage. It tries to build on the strengths of the relationship, avoiding the “we’ll get him/her” so common with the adversarial position.
How much does Mediation cost?
The cost of mediation can vary. Manousso Mediation bases the fee on $300 an hour, with a three hours minimum. On average, divorce mediation takes about six hours, but it can also take a few days. The mediator(s) follow the flow of the parties. This is not a process that should be rushed. It usually is requested that both parties contribute to the costs, eliminating any possible feelings that the one who pays may be getting preferred treatment. Sessions also may be held with co-mediators, a man and a woman for example.
Does Mediation Work?
Statistics show that court-ordered child support and alimony payments tend to lag after two years and tend to be ignored entirely after five years. Experience so far has shown that people tend to abide by agreements reached through mediation.
What is the difference between mediation and arbitration?
Both mediation and arbitration involve a neutral third party who is not a judge. In mediation, the neutral party — the mediator — helps the spouses to negotiate an agreement and has no power to make decisions. In arbitration, the neutral third party — the arbitrator — listens to the facts and then decides the case, like a judge does.