Mediation – helping parents talk about separating

Family Mediation helps parents who are separating to talk through their differences. This short UK video shows how it works.

In just a short film, we see how challenging family separation can be. They’re sensible, yet this couple are stirred up.

They even stir us up in the audience. In this cliff-hanger of family life, we hold our breath. Will they sort out future plans for home, children and money? Will they fall off the cliff? Naturally their immediate priority on separating is practical: houses and money.

Most of all, we’re on edge for the children. We know what the kids won’t see yet: how rocky their life may get. In this drama, parents and mediator make assumptions about what the children need and want.

Parents and their children love and care for each other. The kids are a joint responsibility for parents even after separation. They presume the kids will be OK as they don’t yet know how break-ups can spoil kids’ relationships with them.

Parents and mediator have to trust that they know what’s best for the children. That trust will be improved when we all know more about what kids need. So we can make better decisions that give them a heatlhy family for life after separstion.

Family Mediation needs the best combination of skills and a much higher profile. Finding ways to avoid cliff-hangers would be best of all.

You can find this video, and lots more, on the National Family Mediation website.