Divorce and separation advice from Dorking family mediation services
8 Tools from Positive Psychology to help you feel happier after your divorce. Positive Psychology is the science of happiness and is concerned with helping individuals flourish and thrive in life. Whereas traditional Psychology looks at what’s ‘wrong’ with people, Positive Psychology focuses on the positives and negatives equally. It focuses on what’s going well in your life, with your relationships and work and building on your strengths. We’re all hardwired to focus more on the negative things in life……
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In recent years the government has placed a much greater emphasis on separating couples/parents resolving issues outside of the court process wherever possible. This started with the introduction of the requirement to attend a MIAMS (Mediation Information and Assessment Meeting) a few years back but there have been issues with whether this requirement was policed and what difference it made if you hadn’t. The reasons for it are probably clear to anyone with any knowledge of the family court system…
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When couples who are going through a separation come to talk about how their children will spend their time for the first Christmas (or in fact any other special day or celebration) it can be a tough ask. It’s a special day and it’s likely you have always spent it with your children. So facing the thought of what to do can mean that one of you won’t see your children on this special day. This is tough and something…
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Dealing with the breakdown of a relationship can be heart breaking at the best of times but if you are going through a divorce and you didn’t want to separate, it can be overwhelming. If this sounds familiar, here are a few ways mediation can help; Give yourself time – In mediation, you will never feel rushed into making any decisions or changes until you feel ready. It is your process and mediation will proceed at a pace both parties…
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It’s a truth universally acknowledged (by family mediators anyway), that mediation has many benefits. For example, it is widely accepted that family mediation is quicker, more cost effective and less acrimonious than going to court. Here are three further benefits to family mediation that you might not have thought of: It is empowering You are in control when you come to mediation. You can choose the mediator, someone you feel you can work with and trust. You can choose the…
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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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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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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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