Linda Schoonover Carley

Empowering Divorcing Couples to Communicate Through Mediation

The heightened emotions that come with divorce often lead to impulsive action. The brain shuts down and couples jump into litigation without considering the consequences—or the alternatives. But the court system takes their power away and hands all of the decisions over to a judge, and at the end of the day, everybody loses. How can we reestablish communication between these couples, empowering them to make decisions on their own?

Linda Schoonover Carley is a former family, dependency and juvenile judge with more than thirty years of experience as a judge, attorney and mediator. She is also the author of Divorce Made Simple, a no-nonsense guide that demonstrates her practical, holistic approach to avoiding the chaos of the court system. An Amazon Best Selling author and award-winning speaker, Linda uses storytelling to illustrate her passion for children and justice.

Today, Linda joins Katherine to discuss how couples make impulsive decisions around divorce without a clear understanding of the consequences. She explains the danger in shutting down communication and offers her approach to teaching couples to communicate again. Linda speaks to the mediation process, describing how it empowers people to make decisions themselves and how to prepare for the mediation process. Listen in to understand why litigation makes couples lose sight of what’s important and learn to leverage alternatives like mediation and collaborative divorce.

Topics Covered

How couples make impulsive decisions around divorce based on emotion

The natural instinct to shut down communication in the divorce process

How shutting down communication escalates turmoil for the children

Linda’s approach to teaching couples to communicate again

Why couples lose sight of what’s important during the litigation process

How mediation starts with the practice of finding agreement

How the parents’ relationship impacts a child’s idea of conflict resolution

How mediation empowers people to make decisions themselves

How to prepare for the mediation process

• Issues had during marriage will show up in mediation
• Make list of issues, rank in order of importance
• Come in with an understanding of financial needs

How children can serve as an anchor for the mediation process

The fundamentals of time sharing or shared parental responsibility

The difference between child support and alimony

Connect with Linda Schoonover Carley

Linda’s Website

Divorce Made Simple

Divorce Made Simple on Facebook

Resources

Divorce Made Simple: The Ultimate Guide by a Former Family Judge by Linda D. Schoonover

Connect with Katherine Miller

The Center for Understanding Conflict

Miller Law Group

Katherine on LinkedIn

The New Yorker’s Guide to Collaborative Divorce by Katherine Miller

Email katherine@miller-law.com

Call (914) 738-7765

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