When a fire is burning, it requires a significant amount of attention to put it out. Marital Mediation can assist in getting the fire, which is destroying your marriage, under control. The alternate dispute resolution process is a growing area of family mediation. It can be used in conjunction with or instead of traditional couple’s therapy for marriages in crisis. Just because counseling didn’t help doesn’t mean that the marriage is over. Marital mediation offers couples hoping to find a way to stay married a short term, practical, constructive, forward focused, solution-oriented option prior to making a decision to divorce. The process does not explore deep personal issues, address mental health diagnosis, discuss family backgrounds, pathologies, or provide treatment. It encourages a collaborative process to achieve common goals where each party takes responsibility for working through the relationship and process.
Marital Mediation is an additional resource for people that wish to pursue and improve their marriages. The process uses the skills and techniques in Divorce Mediation to help save the marriage instead of helping couples divorce. It utilizes mediation techniques to open and improve lines of communication, help couples address areas of tension in their relationship, and works to develop plans that focus on behavioral changes each person will make in order to lessen future arguments.
A trained Marital Mediator acts as an impartial communication specialist who fosters and facilitates discussion that allows the clients to exchange differing views, ask questions, discuss different topics, and find short term solutions based on identified issues and obstacles. Parties are encouraged to talk about their interests, values, and needs, not just their wants. The mediator uses negotiation and conflict resolution skills to empower the couple to be active participants in their own solution by working together to understand each other’s desires, feelings, thoughts, and goals.
Conflicts left unattended can become major issues that spiral out of control and destroy a marriage. Marital Mediation allows couples to move out of crisis or limbo quicker in order to make educated decisions about the future of the marriage. By better understanding the issues and exploring time sensitive and creative solutions, couples can often reach agreements, overcome their differences, and stay married.
What are the benefits of Marital Mediation?
-Marital Mediation is facilitated by a trained Supreme Court Mediator who is a Certified Marital Mediator and specifically educated about the divorce process.
-It provides an opportunity to save the marriage even if other forms of alternative dispute resolutions have not been successful.
-The process is private, confidential, and client driven.
-Marital Mediation is a short-term, forward focused joint venture to better understand the relationship.
-It implements a pragmatic and practical approach.
-The process empowers couples to be a part of the solution, to learn new communication, negotiating, and conflict resolution skills.
-Marital mediation is goal and task oriented.
-It focuses on the problem not the other person which decreases the blame game and emotional avoidance allowing for more honest and open discussions.
-The process is solution based where the couple independently sets goals and objectives together for mutual implementation.
-Marital Mediation is resolution focused.
-It encourages brainstorming options for a favored outcome.
-The process is couple driven not attorney or judge driven.
-Marital Mediation utilizes a framework by which the neutral facilitator helps discover hidden interests and opinions not realized by the couple.
-It helps the couple develop a more positive story or narrative about their relationship.
Jennifer Warren Medwin, MS is a CDC Certified Divorce Coach, Supreme Court of Florida Family Mediator, and a Certified Marital Mediator. Her private practice in Pinecrest, Miami is called Seeking Empowerment: Clarity through Partnership. Jennifer specializes in working alongside individuals who are contemplating divorce and are fearful of high conflict and with individuals who hope to save their marriage. She partners with clients to develop the clarity, confidence, courage, conflict management strategies, and communication skills they need in order to move through the process. Jennifer uses her knowledge of coaching and mediation to help her clients emotionally prepare for the dissolution of their marriages or the reconciliation of their relationship in the most organized, time efficient, and productive manner. Additionally, Jennifer is a member of the National Association of Divorce Professionals (NADP) and a contributing writing for Your Tango and Thrive Global. Her approach to divorce coaching and mediation is one that provides clients with guidance and compassion through a difficult time in their lives.
“Set the intention of living the life you always wanted. Turn your can’ts into cans and you dreams into plans.” Anonymous