Parenting is among the most important, meaningful, and difficult jobs in the world. Parents bring the richness of their backgrounds, hopes, ideals, dreams, aspirations and histories to their families.

We all have different ways of dealing with (or sometimes not dealing with) conflict, and the ways that conflict can impact the family. Creating a path forward when parents disagree can be difficult, especially when dealing with important — and sometimes emotionally charged – decisions affecting their children.

While as a mediation service we are often called upon to work with families once they have reached the point of  divorce or legal separation, we are committed to working with all parents to help them keep their families on track — ideally before separation and divorce are even a consideration, but also after they are separated or divorced and need to still work together to make decisions about the children they share.

What we do is help parents have important conversations with each other when communication is difficult for them.

That help is so often needed when parents have the best interests of their children and their families in mind, but nevertheless find themselves stuck and unable to find a way to align with each other on crucial decisions.

Even small issues, left unresolved, can grow like weeds. When parental conflict sets in, it can affect the entire family.

Our goal is to help parents address and work through issues in a productive way, where they each can feel heard, where they can get what’s important to them “on the table”, and where they can slow down, step back, and — together — consider solutions in a more structured, less stressful way.  

Sadly, too often parents have already reached their limits before coming to mediation.

This doesn’t have to be the case – and we want to change that. 

Our view is that parenting mediation can be a powerful resource for earlier intervention and reducing parenting stress. 

We have a special interest in working with parents who want to address their disagreements and still remain in their relationships. 

We are available to help mediate discussions involving topics such as:

• Parenting and work-life balance issues
• Financial planning and budgeting decisions
• Family decision-making
• Work-life balance issues
• Marital planning / pre- and post-nuptial agreements
• House rules and consistency, screen time and use of electronics
• Conflicts with extended family members or families of origin
• Handling family events, holidays, travel, and vacation planning
• Setting boundaries with friends and other families
• Issues involving clutter and use of shared space in the home
• Estate planning and guardianship issues
• Medical decisions and support resources
• Planning logistics and sharing the load
• Managing the important, but hard to resolve daily issues of having a busy family

We firmly believe that a better way to resolve disputes is making sure that everyone’s concerns are raised and heard so that they can be addressed. But we also understand how difficult it can be to make the time to focus – and how drive-by conversations that busy parents often have can lead to ineffective communication. We offer a process focused on examining interests and concerns as problems to be solved, rather than as battles to be won.

We are here to help you stay focused on the future without staying stuck in the past. Visit our blog for tips to help you create more peaceful answers to difficult parenting issues.

Please provide your information below and we will respond to you to set up an initial free 20 minute consultation to discuss our process and how we may serve your family’s needs. You also may call to set up a consultation, at (301) 785-8972, or email us at erik@feigmediationgroup.com.