What is Family Mediation?
As a mediator, I will help you define and plan for your new roles as co-parents. In addition to creating a complete parenting plan, we will address child and spousal support arrangements, as well as explore options for a comprehensive settlement of all property issues.
During the process I will work hard to ensure that both of you get continual and relevant guidance. I’m committed to helping you and your spouse find peace of mind and security for your family.
If you’re reading this page, chances are that someone – maybe your lawyer, friend, or family member – has recommended mediation to guide you through this difficult transition.
In my divorce mediation sessions I will seek to balance needs for independent expression and a safe space. I accomplish this by receiving what each participant cares about without judgement and by normalizing emotional statements into relatable requests for change.
You can start the family mediation process even if you have not yet spoken with a family lawyer.
It can be challenging to ask for help, but few people are well prepared to deal with relationship breakdown
During a brief call, we can speak about your current situation and your goals to determine if my mediation services will help you and your spouse reach an agreement outside of court.
Rather than wait for a judge to review the facts of your case and reach a final decision for you, mediation empowers couples to reach a mutually beneficial agreement on their own terms.
Coaching Services for Conflict Management in Toronto
Aligned Choices offers family mediation participants a chance to have one-on-one sessions to learn conflict management skills that will help them turn conflict into meaningful and productive conversations.
We all have to deal with conflict in life, and coaching sessions with a family mediator can lead to less stressful disagreements.
If you are struggling with defining boundaries in a way that preserves the bonds with those you care about, or if you tend to avoid conflict at all costs, or seek to control the outcomes and want to take the lead in making a change, then you will greatly benefit from conflict management coaching from a certified mediator.
(Individual coaching sessions are offered as a stand alone service and to clients receiving divorce mediation services)
Relationship
Repair Coaching
Seemingly intractable conflicts can be reset and reconfigured with the input and guidance from a family mediator.
As long as all family members are open to discussing the possibility of reconciliation, this conversation is possible. This service is for you if:
You and your spouse do not want to separate and are actively looking for ways to stay together;
Your family has experienced a protracted estrangement and wants to explore ways to end the separation.
Or you are a parent of a teenager who is experiencing the strains which come from their need for growth and independence, and your need to maintain safe limits.
Building individual strength in conversation with loved ones is essential in these discussions… I can show you how.
With perseverance, people do come to terms with the past in the present, and begin to hear each other again.
Order 1 hour Coaching session
New Non-Profit
Organization
Serving separating couples in Ontario during the pandemic I witnessed the intensification of the need for dispute resolution services, and the increase in the number of couples who struggled to come up with a way to afford them.
I want to help these couples access the best mediation, collaborative law and mental health services available, so they can drop some of their financial concerns, and focus their energy on creating the strongest separation agreement for their future two-home family.
For more details about the project or to make a donation, please visit www.youdecidefund.ca/, or on Instagram @youdecidefund.
You Decide Fund of Ontario
Coaching
for Wellness
If you are interested in understanding and changing your habitual patterns of thought and communication, my wife Natalya, who is a professional writing and life coach, specializes in using reflective writing as a tool for personal transformation.
She can help you create a customized reflective writing practice so you can
- gain insight into your life and the choices you’re facing
- discover your strengths and values as well as your unhelpful beliefs
- learn how to address any obstacle that separates you from the life you want to be living
You can download free resources, read more about her services, and check out her book 7 Minutes to Freedom: Simple Writing Meditations to Liberate Your Writing and Your Life here. The initial call is always free.
Richard is a calm and empathetic mediator. He is truly able to see many perspectives and bring multiple sides closer in an efficient and respectful way. Highly recommended!
R.D
Richard is a good listener. He’s also thoughtful, insightful, level-headed, warm, fair, and compassionate – all qualities useful in tending to people in times of difficulty. The bonus is his sense of humor. Richard can see the lighter side of most situations, even tough ones, and that’s a gift.
R.H
Richard Brydson’s mediation skills are second to none. His understanding and empathy were immensely reassuring. I highly recommend him.
M.M
Learn more
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