Articles around family mediation, advice on separation and divorce, and general guidance to help you through the difficult process
If you haven’t seen the blog about Pushing your Buttons then I recommend you have a look as it helps to understand what can be the most difficult part of resolving issues for many separating couples. From my perspective as a family mediator two of the most common barriers I see to resolving issues are the fact that the couple pushes each other’s buttons so much they can’t get near constructive discussions about what options could look like; and secondly…
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If you follow me on social media then you might have seen me talking a lot lately about what might be pushing your buttons. This is for a number of reasons: I believe it is the nub of many disputes to understand and unpick this. I think given the current situation with coronavirus buttons are being pressed a lot at the moment. Partly because we are on edge anyway, but also because if you’re living in the same house as…
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I have had so many conversations with people recently who want to sort out issues that arise from their separation, but feel that they simply cannot commit to paying anything for mediators, lawyers, or other professional services at the current times. It is often the case that budgets are constrained during a separation. You just about made ends meet in one house, how on earth will you stretch what you have to provide two homes? Such…
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Steadying yourself when you wobble during separation and divorce A guest blog by Danielle Barbereau (BA, MA, MAC) Professional coach, providing emotional support to clients during divorce and separation Mob: 07860 801693 | Web: www.danielleb.co.uk | Twitter: @CoachingDB The coronavirus lockdown, a time of great uncertainty, may lead us to re-evaluate our lives: how we live and work, our values, and of course our relationships. Now is probably not the best time to make major decisions on…
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When I first used to ask clients contacting me for the first time if they knew what mediation was about then there was often a “not really”. Now I find clients making contact are aware of what mediation is, and have either made an independent decision that it is the right way forward for them, or have had a lawyer direct them towards mediation. Yet there is still not much known about child inclusive mediation which can be such a…
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Never has a period of time brought forth such use of the word “unprecedented”. The use is of course justified as these are times for which there simply is no road map or blueprint. Lockdown is a situation that was only put in place previously during airstrikes during World War II. Even then the situation was not entirely the same. I have already written guidance for those self-isolating in a house with a partner they’re separating from. I now want…
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Separation: couples self isolating in the same house Well now here is a post that I didn’t think I would ever type. Even a few weeks ago could we have imagined the fact that large parts of the world would be not able to leave their houses? It is a challenging situation for many: concerns about the health implications; worries about reduced income or businesses going under. I appreciate all of that. One of my biggest concerns is for couples…
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I recently came across a really interesting article based on a survey looking at parents staying together for the sake of their children The survey was called out by Directline. Some parts of this survey really jumped out at me and I wanted to add some thoughts on them: I can see the generational difference in how long parents stayed together but even amongst younger parents it was still 3 years. Often in family mediation one of the things…
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Recently I added a blog post aimed at giving more information to those thinking about mediation and collating various pieces of information that are contained across the extensive range of blogs on the LKW Family Mediation website This got me thinking about whether those coming into mediation, or going through a separation generally, really understand the full range of things that can be talked about in mediation. So the list below is of conversations that have been facilitated by me…
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I was asked a question the other day about family mediation and it occurred to me that I wasn’t sure there was a blog post with the information in. I’m quite sure there is a wealth of information on this topic across the blog but I felt it might be helpful to have it in one place. The question focused on two things: Do you have to be on the same page to try family mediation; and What do you…
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