How we helped separated dad see his children more

Parents with four children decided to separate. As time went on, dad wasn’t able to see his children as much as he, or the children, wanted. This case study shares a snapshot of how we helped the separated dad see his children more.

The time dad was currently having with his children was unstructured with no set routine or formal arrangement. Seeing the child on an ad hoc basis didn’t give the parents or the children any consistency. The mum was reporting that the children were always wondering when they would see dad, and when they were on the phone with dad they were asking him when they would be seeing him next.

The dad felt unhappy and initiated family dispute resolution.

Family Dispute Resolution Practitioner, Eliza, held an initial intake session to learn the background and the context, and to determine the suitability for mediation. Then Eliza conducted a pre-mediation review as part of the process. Eliza also determined that for safety, the mediation sessions should run in shuttle format (which means Eliza mediated with them separately).

“I already had some idea of what each of them was hoping to achieve” shared Eliza. “In every mediation, our primary focus is the children and their best interests and well-being.  In every mediation we are very child focussed.

“What we wanted to achieve was a really good outcome for the children, but also for the parents as well… to allow them to plan things, to plan activities with the children and have that consistency and stability,” shared Eliza.

An important step in the mediation was to see if they would be able to shift their proposals and find a middle ground they could both agree on for shared parental arrangements. The process took several sessions with each parent.  They had the time to go away from each meeting and consider the changes. They took time to see if there was scope to come to an arrangement they could both agree on that was consistent for them and positive for the children.

“It was really about having those difficult conversations about what elements of the parenting agreement were important to them and what were the areas where they could shift a little bit”, Eliza shared. “Mediation isn’t a situation where there’s a winner and there’s a loser. Basically, what we want from mediation is the children to be the winners in every scenario.”

What was the outcome?

Listen to the podcast where Eliza shares the case study and outcome.

What can Better Place Australia family dispute resolution do?

Family Dispute Resolution can help separated couples:

• negotiate parenting arrangements
• consider the parental responsibilities of each parent
• navigate complex issues and have difficult conversations
• negotiate mutually acceptable outcomes
• reduce the emotional impact of separation by potentially avoiding a court process
• reduce legal costs and potentially achieve an outcome in a timelier manner
• divide property and discuss financial matters.

Appointments for FDR

You can access the Better Place Australia Family Dispute Resolution service by telephone and video appointments, or face-to-face at the following sites:

• Cheltenham
• Croydon
• Oakleigh
• Narre Warren
• Traralgon
• Wyndham Vale

Enquiries about cost and beginning the process

Enquire here.