Today marks the start of Family Mediation Week. It is a week I will always support, not only because I am a mediator and it highlights the valuable work of mediators working with separating families up and down the country but because I still feel, in 2019 that we need to talk more about the benefits of mediation and why we should, as a society, be striving to find more civilised ways for separating families.
Mediation offers couples the opportunity to work through their divorce or separation, together, through a series of face to face meetings, with the assistance of a professional who is impartial, experienced in family breakdowns and managing conflict. Often a couple can resolve how they want to divide their family pot, to move forward with a separation or divorce and arrangements for their children after just 3-5 meetings. It enables feelings to be considered so that resentment doesn’t build, it builds on communication, offers strategies to navigate any changes in the family or problems which might arise in the future, helps re-establish trust and enables both parties to feel in control of their own outcome.
It sounds easy when you put it like that doesn’t it? Well, it is far from that. I have huge respect for the couples who choose to resolve their divorce through mediation. It takes grit, commitment and huge emotional resilience. In a world where emotional stress and financial worries are so prevalent, this process can offer you a way forward that takes into account your emotional needs, is cost effective and can bring a conclusion in the majority of cases far quicker than any other process.
If you would like to explore whether mediation might be suitable for your family circumstances, please do not hesitate to contact me for an initial meeting.
