Child Informed Mediation

Why do Child Informed Mediation?

Child Informed Mediation brings children’s views, perspectives, opinions and issues related to their wellbeing into the Family Dispute Resolution process. Children have an independent interview to talk on their own to a person trained to understand their feelings and views.

Who is it for?

When appropriate and if both parents consent, school aged children are offered a private consultation, in a safe space, to talk about their experience of the separation, their needs, their worries and what they would like to see happen.

Depending on age and the individual child, they may express themselves through drawing, playing, talking, stories or other activities. If there is more than one child in the family, each maybe seen separately. These sessions can run with all the children of the family present together, to help understand the dynamics.

How does it work?

These sessions will be a once off and may last for approximately 45 minutes. Children are never asked to make decisions- that’s their parents’ job. It can be a relief for a child to be able to express their views to a person who is not involved in the conflict. Its purpose is to allow the child to share what it is like for them and to help parents in their decision making in Family Dispute Resolution.

From this interview the needs of the child are acknowledged and shared with the parents. This information is shared in a mediation session, this is a one-off session with the counsellor present. Child Informed Mediation helps to determine the best needs of the child in a caring and supportive environment.