Mediation

I provide party only mediation services because I understand that dealing with conflict, divorce, and change is hard and filled with difficult emotions. I believe in helping clients bring the best of themselves to the mediation table and empowering clients to be active participants in making decisions about their lives – leading to better, longer lasting settlement agreements

When acting as mediators, lawyers do not give legal advice, but they do bring a valuable special skill set to family law mediation — they are trained to spot legal issues, apply the law to the facts, and draw conclusions. Their knowledge of law often equips them with the ability to make suggestions and provide options for consideration during the family law and mediation services process. But a marriage and family therapist is uniquely trained to help people regulate their emotions during difficult processes and allows for an openness that vastly improves the negotiation process. Settlements are achieved in a cooler, calmer emotional environment.

Mediation is a process that brings people in conflict together with a neutral third person (the mediator) who assists them in reaching a voluntary agreement. The mediator helps them prepare for mediation, clarify the issues, consider options, and reach a workable settlement that fits their needs. Mediation gives people a relatively quick, inexpensive way to work out their differences while addressing everyone’s needs and interests. Decisions reached in mediation are created by the people who are in conflict, not by the mediator or a judge.

There are many advantages of mediation. Mediation encourages direct communication between the parties and helps people decide for themselves the best settlement. It allows for the expression of emotions, often defuses anger, explores creative means of solving problems, and promotes cooperation between people. Mediation is especially beneficial in situations where there will be an ongoing relationship because the process helps preserve the strengths of a relationship. It often helps people accept the consequences of their own decisions and develops a model for resolution of future conflicts.

Family Mediation is mediation between people who consider themselves “family.” Family Mediation may be used in issues of: marriage, separation, divorce, parenting schedules, child support, alimony, property division, elder care, the family’s budget, distribution of inherited property, family business succession, and other family matters such as: