Lee 26, and Heather 25, first contacted MyMediation in June 2015 for help to make arrangements in respect of their twins Tyler and Morgen, aged 5. Lee had heard about family mediation from a storyline in a soap opera but was not convinced of it working for their situation.
Does mediation achieve more satisfactory, longer lasting outcomes than other dispute resolution processes? Research points to the fact that 2/3 of cases that start mediation reach agreement. How do you measure positive outcomes?
We recently saw a dad for a Mediation Information and Assessment Meeting (MIAM) whose main priority was making arrangements to see his four year old son as quickly as possible. This dad hasn’t seen his child for three weeks. He attended the MIAM to get the C100 form completed so that he could make an application to the court. He wanted to know how long it would be before the court made a decision.
Yesterday, there was a change of tone on our Facebook and Twitter feeds as people celebrated the festival of Thanksgiving. Once an American festival, but now celebrated across the world, the fourth Thursday of every November provides an opportunity to share what you’re thankful for with family and friends.
This week is Resolution’s Family Dispute Resolution Week; a week highlighting the alternatives to court for separating couples. Separated parents are being encouraged to recognise that at times of family difficulty it is easy for adults to forget what it is like to be a child. Here are our top 10 tips for separated parents to put your children first:
It’s less than 5 weeks until Christmas but there is still time to consider family mediation if you are anxious about arrangements for the holiday season.
Resolution, has this week released the results of a poll of young people aged 14-22 with experience of parental separation. The organisation, with 6,500 members who are family mediators, lawyers and other professionals committed to the constructive resolution of family disputes, hopes the insights will help parents understand the impact of divorce and separation from a child’s perspective.
This week we were excited to receive our copy of Katherine Woodward Thomas’ book Conscious Uncoupling - How to Break Up in A Whole New Way.
Sunday 4th October 2015, is Grandparents Day. Celebrated in the USA since 1978 and introduced to the UK in 1990 by the charity Age Concern, Grandparents Day is an opportunity for families and communities to honour and celebrate the 14 million grandparents in the UK. Although not as commercially successful as Mother's and Father's Day, this year we’ve noticed businesses advertising specialised gifts and greeting cards for Grandparents.
As the summer holidays draw to a close, parents who have recently separated may already be thinking about the next school holidays, eg Christmas and New Year. Even parents who have structured contact in place during term-time, often dread the prospect of organising days that carry emotional weight - in particular Christmas and birthdays. Family mediation provides a safe environment to discuss child arrangements at any point in time including before, during or after separation.
