Collaborative Coaching • Burnaby & Langley

A Collaborative Divorce coach is a licensed mental health professional with specialized training in collaborative divorce and mediation to help you and your partner communicate and resolve family and parenting matters in a solution-focused, strengths-based manner.  They work with clients individually, as well as in four-way meetings with the other coach and partner.  Coaches also provide emotional support and can help you create a parenting plan that responds to the needs of your children and family.

You can utilize the services of a Divorce Coach whether you are in mediation, litigation, or the collaborative divorce process.

Collaborative divorce, also known as Collaborative Practice or Collaborative Law, is an effective, no-court alternative to traditional separation and divorce.  Clients work with specially trained collaborative lawyers, divorce coaches, and other professionals to create unique solutions that align with the families’ values and goals.  The team supports both parties, and agreements are made considering the impact to all family members.

Collaborative divorce offers a positive method toward a more healthy and cooperative solution to relationship dissolution. Many families feel more in control of the separation (or co-parenting) process, experience greater dignity and respect, with more predictable outcomes for the family. For couples with children, it assists them towards a positive and healthy co-parenting relationship.

Unique to this process is a written “Participation Agreement” in which separating couples agree to honest, voluntary, and good faith exchanges.  They also commit to create a solution together without going to court.

Collaboration over confrontation

• Collaborative Divorce fosters an environment of open communication and cooperation, encouraging both participants to actively contribute to craft mutually beneficial solutions.

Minimize emotional toll

• The collaborative approach can offer emotional support, effective communication skills, and conflict resolution as means to contribute to a successful resolution.
• By working together, participants can mitigate the stress and trauma often associated with traditional divorces, fostering a healthier transition and post-divorce life for everyone involved, especially children.
• Working together collaboratively also means participants set the pace at which they work; Collaborative Divorce does not have court-ordered deadlines.

Cost-effective and efficient

• Traditional litigated divorces can be financially draining and time consuming. Collaborative Divorce streamlines the process and typically reduces costs by working to create interest-based solutions instead of taking a positional, more adversarial approach.   By working collaboratively, you gain more control over the outcome, saving both time and money.

Private

• The process and outcomes are kept between you, your partner, and your collaborative team.

• Collaborative Divorce uses a team approach instead of a third-party to facilitate a separation agreement. Each party retains their own Collaborative Lawyer to support the process.  Participants also can agree to build a team of Collaborative Professionals to develop family-focused solutions.
• Collaborative Divorce participants agree to resolve disputes outside of court. In contrast, mediation does not protect participants from future court action.
• Collaborative divorce uniquely protects participants from the threat of court action, in part, to allow clients to engage without concern their good faith participation or disclosures will be used against them later in court. Thus, if court action is taken by either party, both participants must retain new lawyers and supports to engage the court action.  This does not occur in mediation because mediation does not have a mechanism to protect participants from future court action.

Book an appointment today to explore whether Divorce Coaching and/or Collaborative Divorce could be a best fit for you, and receive support to build your team.  You can initiate this process before, while, or after retaining a lawyer.

If you wish to pursue Collaborative Divorce, your service providers need to be Collaboratively trained.  The Collaborative Divorce process consists of two Collaborative Lawyers, along with one or two Divorce Coaches, a Child Specialist and Financial Specialist as needed.