Practicing Narrative Mediation by John Winslade

Author:John Winslade
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Wiley
Published: 2010-05-10T16:00:00+00:00

Collaborative Divorce

A model that has become highly successful in the turn toward collaborative practices is the development of a collaborative divorce team. This model was first instituted in San Francisco by Peggy Thompson and her colleagues.

The collaborative divorce model establishes a collaborative divorce team that will work with the divorcing couple through the divorce. In addition to a collaborative attorney, a divorce coach is retained by each of the divorcing spouses. These coaches are mental health professionals whose task it is to contain, manage, and channel the emotional and relational dimensions of the divorce. They do this in the same way as a mediator (a neutral third person) would, but each coach is working with a specific party in the divorce rather than being neutral. Their role is to help diffuse conflict and keep clients focused on their end goal rather than being diverted into problem-saturated stories of the past. They can help to co-create a safe, productive environment for sound decision making and reduce the level of fear and intimidation that their clients may feel. They also play a role in regulating the pacing and speed of dealing with thorny issues and addressing emotionally laden subjects. Sometimes coaches have to quiet low-level accusations and threats to go to court and help their clients to feel heard. They can guide their clients to separate emotionally volatile subjects from the legal matters that have to be decided. (This role is analyzed further in our discussion of the one-coach or one-mediator model later in this chapter.)

In addition to coaches the full collaborative divorce model uses child specialists who also have a mental health background. The task of these child specialists is to help the parents hear and understand the needs and wishes of the children. The child specialist becomes the children’s mouthpiece in the negotiation of a comprehensive caregiving plan for the children. Another third party in the collaborative divorce model is the financial specialist. This person can provide advice to each party about matters to do with determining net worth, asset management, tax laws, budgeting, and cash flow. Because financial specialists do not represent any one part of the family system, they can play a key role in guiding the family through the whole process.

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