Marital and Family

Why Mediate A Marital/Family Agreement?

People in relationships face predictable themes of conflict -- some unique and some universal. Love, mutual trust, and security are the core of intimate relationships. When talking about marital/family agreements:

• Discussions about sensitive issues often trigger fear, anger, and insecurity
• People in love hesitate to bring up concerns because they believe, "She/He will think I don’t have confidence in our love if I bring up that topic"
• Issues of money and assets are closely tied to needs for security
• Family members trying to negotiate agreements frequently end up hurt and angry with each other and stuck in an impasse

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What Does The Connection Partners, Inc. Mediation Process Look Like?

Male and female co-mediators, to balance sensitivities and perspectives, meet with the couple to facilitate discussions.

• Participants meet with co-mediators in a neutral professional meeting space.
• Mediators help the participants to focus on the hopes, values, and goals on which they want to base their marital/family agreement.
• The number of sessions varies depending on the number and nature of the issues to be discussed, and the participants’ comfort with discussing the issues.
• Mediation sessions typically last about two hours.
• Each participant may be provided with materials to read prior to the session in order to stimulate thoughts about topics to be discussed during the mediation.
• Mediators help the participants, individually and together, generate and explore a variety of options to consider in response to future relationship issues.
• The mediation results in a written agreement specifying decisions made by the participants and captured in easy to understand terminology. Each participant receives a copy of the agreement to use as a guide for making decisions that will support the relationship they want to create.