is an information gathering process for participants. It may focus on getting assistance with decisions about how to go through a family law process; what to expect from a mediation or evaluation process; research on resilience in children and families; or, any one of a number of topics.
Psychotherapy and counseling
Psychotherapy is a relational intervention used by psychotherapists to help people resolve life problems. One may expect an increasing sense of well-being and the lessening of the experience of dis-ease.
I see individuals, couples, adolescents and families.
Co-parent counseling and Divorce Counseling....
focus specifically on the implementation of a plan for raising the children or on the decision to separate. Sometimes couples are not yet clear about whether they are ready for their relationship to be over or whether they are still trying to make it work. Divorce counseling focuses on this question.
Parents usually engage in co-parent counseling after they have developed a parent agreement or have received a custody order from a court. The focus is on implementing the plan and working out difficulties in the co-parenting relationship, rather than on the relationship between the parents.
Mediation
Mediation is a way of resolving disputes in which a neutral person assists people in reaching mutually acceptable agreements. It is a cooperative, problem-solving method. A mediator does not make decisions for the participants, but helps participants fully explore options. It is a focused, goal-oriented process. The responisbility of the mediator is to provide a neutral forum, to provide alternative ways of understanding the disagreements, and to track and record agreements for the participants.
Please note that I no longer provide mediation for divorce related issues. Mediation for other family related issues will be considered on a case-by-case basis.
Mary A. Duryee, Ph.D. 2014 San Francisco Bay Area Psychologist and Mediator PSY 7975