Promoting co-operative parenting after separation: a therapeutic/interventionist model of family mediation

With adequate therapeutic support, the ideal of co-operative shared parenting could become a reality for the majority of separated, divorced and remarried families. A therapeutic/interventionist approach to family mediation (as contrasted to the more short-term, future-focused, neutralist mainstream model, structured strictly towards the resolution of issues under dispute) may offer the most effective and efficient means to do this. Within this approach, mediation is used to introduce separating parents to shared parenting as a viable alternative, reduce their anxiety about shared parenting as a living arrangement deviating from the norm, enable them to consider a range of shared parenting options, help them work through the development of a shared parenting plan, and support them in the transition to post-divorce parenting. In its emphasis on parental responsibility and shared parental authority in the resolution of post-separation parenting disputes, the model reflects an orientation consistent with the philosophy of the Children Act 1989, and is ideally suited for use by family therapists working with parents during the divorce transition.