Articles under Legal Updates

The Collaborative Process: When It Works

Not all families are right for the Collaborative Process. It requires two people who are looking to communicate with a support team to arrive at agreements that will address their parenting agreements and schedule and the distribution of their incomes and assets. Some couples are just not in a place to be able to have those types of discussions. But when they are and they are involved with a Collaborative Team, even when things are hard, the process just works. Jason Sposeep, Schiller DuCanto and Fleck partner, helps discuss when and why it works in the Collaborative Resolution Project podcast number 7:The Collaborative Resolution Project pod cast number 7

The Collaborative Process Takes A Much Different Path For Your Family Than Litigation

A family beginning the divorce process is often in the midst of turmoil and entangled in uncertainty. Questions like: What do we do? How do we get out of this? How do we start? What will it look like? What will happen to the kids? What will happen to our stuff? What will happen to my relationship with the kids? How much will it cost? How long will it take? How nasty will it get? Those answers differ drastically depending on which path through divorce you choose. The Collaborative Process is starkly different from litigation.

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A Child Specialist Provides Tremendous Guidance On The Collaborative Team

On a collaborative team involving a family with minor children, a Child Specialist can be an invaluable addition. Child Specialists are specially trained collaborative mental health professionals whose specific job on the team is to give a voice to the children. Unlike a Coach, who primarily focuses on the parents, the Child Specialist works directly with the children providing them a safe space in the family transition and a seat at the collaborative table.

The Child Specialist meets with the kids and forms a relationship as a messenger for their best interest in the process. He or she talks with them about their goals, concerns, fears, anxieties and general feelings about the divorce and the changes occurring. Most often, those discussions will be helpful in working with the parents to formulate parenting plans and times. With a wealth of experience dealing with families and children in their practices, the Child Specialists provide a tremendous compass for the team when navigating the parental decision making and parenting time discussions that can often times become difficult and emotional.

Dr. Beth Wilner provides fantastic insight into the role of the Child Specialist in the 6th edition of the Collaborative Resolution Podcast:https://collaborativeresolutionproject.com/2019/02/08/crp-6-the-child-specialist-in-the-collaborative-process/