Advanced Family Mediation – July 15, 16, 17, 18, 2025 – Online
Advanced Family Mediation – July 15, 16, 17, 18, 2025. 8:30 am to 5:30 pm Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday; and 8:30 am to 1:30 pm Friday. This class is completely online, while remaining live and interactive.
The Advanced Family Mediation Training is a 30-hour training fulfilling the Texas ADR Act requirements for mediators doing court-ordered family mediation and following the standards set by the Texas Mediation Trainers Roundtable. The sessions include family law, family dynamics, domestic violence, child development, ethical and practical considerations in a combined lecture and role play environment.
Basic Mediation Training is required prior to taking this course. (MCLE including 2.00 hours of Ethics provided.)
PLEASE NOTE: Requirements for participation in this online training include:
- Registrant must use a laptop or desktop computer during the training that has a camera and microphone. (No tablets or cell phones.)
- To meet the standards for the training, the registrant must attend the full 40 hour course and be visible by camera the entire time.
- Recording of sessions by the registrant is not permitted.
DRC accepts the following forms of payments – Checks (Please fill out the mail in order form and return with check), VISA and MASTERCARD. Choose your training date, then click on the “Add to Cart” link to the right that corresponds to the training program.
Cancellations will be accepted up to 2 weeks prior to class. There will be a $50 administration charge deducted from each refund.
About the Trainers:
Diane M. Harvey, LCSW
TMCA Credentialed Advanced Mediator
Diane is a Clinical Social Worker and Mediator, maintaining a private therapy practice since 1994 and adding mediation to her practice in 1999. Since then, she mediates at the Austin Dispute Resolution Center (DRC) and has served as a coach in their mediation trainings for many years. She is a past board member (past president) of the Austin Mediators Association, a past board member of the Texas Mediators Credentialing Association (TMCA) and the Texas Association of Mediators (TAM – Past President). Diane is currently serving on the board of TMTR (Texas Mediator Trainers Roundtable) as Secretary.
Diane holds an MSW from Fordham University. As a social worker, she worked with people in a wide variety of settings including a 10-year career in the New York State mental health system, concurrent with years of union leadership. It was her union work that piqued an interest in mediation. In 1993 she moved to Texas and headed the social services department at a private psychiatric hospital. She is a frequent speaker and workshop leader for a variety of local, statewide, and national groups, focusing primarily on conflict resolution, mediation, communication, and mental health issues. Diane was honored by the National Association of Social Workers – Texas Capital Branch as 2014 Social Worker of the Year.
With:
Mark W. Sims, JD
TMCA Credentialed Distinguished Mediator
Mark W. Sims is an attorney and mediator who has worked in family law matters and in other areas of general civil litigation for 27 years. Since 2001, his primary focus has been in the area of dispute resolution, primarily as a mediator, in Travis County, Williamson County, and in other counties in Central Texas and across the state. Mark has facilitated over 5,000 mediations both in family law cases and in other civil litigation matters. A fluent Spanish speaker, he has facilitated hundreds of mediations for Spanish-speaking parties.
Mark is a graduate of the University of Texas School of Law and has Finance and Marketing degrees from the McCombs School of Business at the University of Texas at Austin. He served as President of the Texas Association of Mediators in 2021-2022, served on that organization’s board for several years and was the co-chair of the 2020 TAM Annual Conference.
Mark is a Credentialed Distinguished Mediator with the Texas Mediator Credentialing Association, a Fellow of the Texas Bar Foundation, and a Fellow in the Austin Bar Foundation. A CV Peer Review Rated Attorney, he has been a member of the College of the State Bar of Texas for a majority of the time he has been practicing law. He is a former chair of the Lawyer Referral Service of Central Texas and has volunteered for VLS of Central Texas including running a pro se clinic regarding family law matters.
In 2013, Mark was awarded the J. Chrys Dougherty Award by Volunteer Legal Services of Central Texas in recognition of his volunteer efforts. He is proud of his work to establish an Endowed Presidential Scholarship at the McCombs School of Business at the University of Texas at Austin to honor his close friend and mentor, Joseph H. Culver.