About Us - Our Members
Our members hold professional degrees and experience in many disciplines. We are attorneys, mental health professionals, accountants, and financial planners. Each full member also has additional training in mediation and collaborative practice and is required to obtain continuing education in their own professional fields. Mental health and financial professionals are also required to obtain certain training related to divorce and family law.
A collaborative team is formed when multiple professionals from different professions join together to provide the support, information and advocacy the spouses need in order to effectively resolve their disputes. It is the availability of this comprehensive team that provides the parties the best possible services from the professional most qualified to address each unique aspect of the divorce.
The role of each professional is described as follows:
- Attorney
- Attorneys work with divorcing spouses to develop and evaluate information, consider the pros and cons of each option generated, assist them in negotiating an agreement, and prepare the legal documents required by the Court to complete the process.
- Coach
- Coaches provide a safe forum for spouses to learn how to manage the emotional aspects of their divorce, to reduce conflict and obstacles that may keep them from moving forward through the divorce process, to develop better communication skills, and to develop a workable parenting plan.
- Child Specialist
- The child specialist allows children the opportunity to share their thoughts, feelings and concerns about the changes that are taking place in their family in a safe and supportive environment. The child specialist can then assist parents to better understand what their children are experiencing, to provide information about their children's specific developmental and emotional needs and about the impact of divorce on children's functioning. This information can be useful for developing realistic and appropriate parenting plans as well as other co-parenting challenges.
- Financial Specialist
- The guidance of financial specialists helps couples understand and consider their current finances and their financial options for the future, evaluate the short and long-term implications of their choices, and address specific financial or tax issues so that they can reach agreements that are consistent with their interests and goals and viable for their family.
