Divorce is painful but it doesn't have to be a disaster. Most parents facing divorce feel anger, sadness, confusion, and fear. Parents want to protect their children from marital conflict and they worry about how their divorce will effect their children. Parents can get valuable help from a professional mediator.

Mediation is a positive way for parents to work together on behalf of their children. As parents divorce, they must make decisions about their children's new living arrangements. In mediation, parents work together to create a new, viable co-parenting team. A professional mediator acts as a neutral, supportive problem-solver. Trained mediators walk divorcing parents through the decisions that need to be made at the time of separation, for example, how do we tell our children about the divorce; they work with parents as they decide how to create two homes were the children will be comfortable; and they help parents create a placement plan that meets the needs of the children and the parents. Mediators also help parents gather financial information and make a sound financial plan for the future.

Mediators help parents keep parenting so children can continue to be children. Divorce does not end parenting or destroy families. You will be parents for the rest of your lives. A mediator will offer suggestions and support as you transform your parenting relationship into a functioning co-parenting team.

Mediators help parents find ways to be good co-parents after they divorce. Children count on co-parents to attend weddings, funerals, graduations, and other important life events forever. Co-parents need to find ways to make family events comfortable and civil.

Mediators help parents understand what it means to be a good co-parent. Mediators would recommend the following as ways to effectively co-parent:

A mediator will help you work out the terms of a financial settlement that will meet your children's needs. The goal should be to make your divorce a future focused problem-solving process not a court battle. In order for your children to thrive, they need to know that both parents are okay financially.

A mediator will remind you that arrangements you make for placement of your children now, will likely need to be revisited in the future. As children grow, their needs change. It is typical for families to return to mediation after the divorce to rework placement plans to meet the changing needs of their children.