What is Collaborative Practice?

More and more people are choosing Collaborative Practice for divorce and child custody disputes. 

In Collaborative Practice, each party to the divorce has their own attorney, like traditional legal representation in a divorce.

Both lawyers, however, are trained in and committed to the Collaborative Practice process.  Unlike traditional legal representation in a divorce or custody dispute, the attorneys involved in Collaborative Practice will not litigate under any circumstances.  They are sworn to educate, support, advise, and help their clients resolve their differences through negotiation.

In addition to the two Collaborative Practice attorneys, the clients work with a Collaborative Practice Coach, who is a licensed mental health professional acting as a neutral.

This Coach helps the clients define their goals, facilitates communication between all of the parties to the process, and helps resolve conflicts and impasses in the negotiations.

The Coach works with the clients separately (“off-line”) to craft parenting plans and ways to work together in the present and future on behalf of their children.

My belief is that this process is ideal for divorcing couples who feel they need the support of a legal advocate but wish to also engage in a non-adversarial process in reaching agreement on their issues. 

Clients find that the expense of hiring a Divorce Coach in addition to the expense of two Collaborative attorneys is well worth the results:  improved communication and problem-solving, faster conflict resolution, better cooperative parenting skills, and a comprehensive agreement that is fair and reasonable.

At the end of the process, clients have remarked that they wish they had had this kind of help communicating with each other years ago. 

My training as a Divorce Coach supplements my long experience as a psychotherapist and divorce mediator.