Mediation Services

Dr. Swisher combines his insight as an attorney and therapist to offer Solution Focused Mediation services to couples going through a separation or divorce. Most mediation sessions last 2 hours and are completed in two to three sessions. Dr. Swisher will then draft up a legal document called a “Marital Separation Agreement” or a “Parenting & Separation Agreement.”

You will never sign any agreement until you have had an opportunity to carefully review the agreement with a lawyer, friends, and family. Modifications to the first draft are quite common.

To prepare for our first session, please review the attached Checklist for Mediation below. Not all issues on the list pertain to everyone and you may have additional topics to be covered in mediation.

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kSCakzqK8D4http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kSCakzqK8D4

Note: Maryland law requiring a year of separation prior to filing for divorce has been changed since the recording of this video.

What is mediation? Mediation is a process for negotiating and resolving conflicts with the help of a neutral third party. Unlike in litigation or trials, decision-making rests in the hands of the parties in mediation, rather than at the discretion of your attorneys or a judge. A professional and skilled mediator offers a structured process to help you identify issues, obtain necessary information, break through impasses and, ultimately, reach mutually acceptable and binding agreements. Mediation is voluntary and confidential. It is generally concluded in a fraction of the time of litigation, with substantially lower financial and emotional costs. Mediation keeps you in control of your future.

Separation and Divorce Mediation
Divorce Mediation resolves three primary issues: the division of assets, meeting the financial needs of the family going forward and, parenting issues. Mediation can also address other issues including how to get separated, when to introduce new partners to children and planning for college.

Mediation provides a supportive, collaborative atmosphere where you and your spouse or partner can do your best thinking, and, with help, devise agreements that protect your children’s relationships with both parents and enable cooperative parenting.

Benefits
YOU maintain control over what happens. A divorce action is not about whether you will get divorced, but how. In litigation, you rely on opposing counsel or the court to make the decisions about your divorce, your finances, and your children. In mediation, you make the decisions.

You have a chance to be heard. In mediation, your concerns are heard and addressed. You and your spouse may find that, with help, you are finally communicating in a way that makes it easier to envision a peaceful conclusion and possibilities for a positive life after divorce.

You spare yourself emotional distress. Using the court system escalates the conflict, prolongs your pain, and postpones your ability to grieve, heal and move on with your life.

You save time and money. Instead of working against one another, you and your spouse work together in mediation so you can reach solutions that work for both of you. Prolonged divorces can take years to complete and deplete your assets; Mediated divorces are achieved more quickly and cost-efficiently.

You protect your children. Mediation allows you and your spouse to see this time not only as an ending of your marriage, but also as a transition to a new, post-married relationship. Though you will no longer be married, your relationship as parents will continue forever. Research shows that how parents go about the process of divorce is the most important factor in predicting success for their children.

You create a comprehensive agreement that works. The courts are limited in the breadth of issues and remedies it can order. In mediation, you and your spouse can devise creative agreements that address all of your legal and non-legal concerns. And statistically speaking, people keep the agreements they devise themselves because they work!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GOqKxNcJujo