The Elements of Mediation: Conflict Resolution 101

Sharon C. Leviton served as an Adjunct Professor of Law at Texas Wesleyan University School of Law where she taught Family Law Mediation and Crisis Management, and she is a member of the faculty of the Attorney—Mediator Institute of Houston, Texas. She was a family dispute mediator and crisis specialist in private practice in Dallas, Texas. She was one of the first mediators and trainers for the Dispute Mediation Service of Dallas in the 1980’s. She was a Practitioner Member of the Academy of Family Mediators and served as one of the organization's early training supervisors.

Dr. Leviton served as the vice chairman of the American Board of Examiners in Crisis Intervention, Executive Director of the Southwestern Academy of Crisis Interveners, and a Fellow of both the American Academy of Crisis Interveners and the Southeastern Academy of Crisis Interveners.

Dr. Leviton is a coauthor of Winning Through Accommodation: The Mediator's Handbook; Elements of Crisis Intervention; Hotline: A Crisis Intervention Directory; The Crisis Intervener's Handbook; and Crisis Intervention: Handbook for Interveners. She has edited the Crisis Intervener's Newsletter and the journal Emotional First Aid. Audiocassette series include Crisis Management and Intervener Survival; Stress Reduction: Personal Energy Management; and Training the Trainer. She has contributed chapters to Innovative Psychotherapies, The Wiley Encyclopedia of Psychology, and The Crisis Intervention Compendium and Mediation Quarterly. Dr. Leviton is a graduate of the Harvard Law School, Program on Negotiations. She has published articles, papers, and editorials in family and marital dispute mediation, psychotherapy, crisis intervention, and stress management. Dr. Leviton can be reached at Drleviton1@juno.com

James L. Greenstone served as the Fort Worth, Texas, Police Department Psychologist. He has been in active practice for 57 years.  Currently, he is Professor of Disaster and Emergency Management for the Kiran C. Patel College of Osteopathic Medicine, Nova Southeastern University. His courses include conflict management, psychosocial dimensions, and law. He served as an Adjunct Professor of Law at Dallas-Fort Worth School of Law where he taught Family Law Mediation and was a member of the faculty of the Attorney–Mediator Institute of Houston, Texas. Since 1966 he has been a marriage and family psychotherapist and a family dispute mediator in private practice in Dallas, Texas and in Fort Worth, Texas. Dr. Greenstone served as national vice president of the American Academy of Crisis Interveners and the chairman of the American Board of Examiners in Crisis Intervention. He served as president of the Southwestern Academy of Crisis Interveners and editor-in-chief of The Journal of Crisis Intervention. Dr. Greenstone is a certified Master Peace Officer in the state of Texas and was the chief hostage and crisis negotiations instructor at the North Central Texas Regional Police Academy.

Dr. Greenstone served as editor-in-chief of The Journal of Police Negotiations, Crisis Management and Suicidology, and is the former editor-in-chief of The Journal of Crisis Negotiations. He has been the senior editor of the Crisis Intervener's Newsletter and editor-in-chief of the journal Emotional First Aid. He is a coauthor of Winning Through Accommodation: The Mediator's Handbook; Elements of Crisis Intervention; The Crisis Intervener's Handbook; Hotline: A Crisis Intervention Directory; Crisis Intervention: Handbook for Interveners; and The Crisis Intervention Compendium. Audiocassette series include Crisis Management and Intervener Survival; Stress Reduction: Personal Energy Management; and Training the Trainer. Dr. Greenstone has also contributed chapters to Innovative Psychotherapies, The Wiley Encyclopedia of Psychology, and Police Psychology into the Twenty-First Century. His most recent books include The Courage to Commit and Pandemia. Dr. Greenstone's professional memberships have included the Academy of Family Mediators, the Society of Professionals in Dispute Resolution, and the Alternative Dispute Resolution Sections of the American and the Texas Bar Associations. He is a graduate of the Harvard Law School, Program on Negotiations and a credentialed distinguished mediator by the Texas Mediator Credentialing Association. Dr. Greenstone can be reached at Dr.James.Greenstone@gmail.com.