Couples Mediation: Where Does it Fit in the Practice of Family Mediation?

presented by Susan K. Boardman, Mike Jonsson and Tess Worrell

Thursday, January 22, 2025

12:00 Noon – 1:30 PM Eastern (9:00-10:30 AM Pacific)

Non-Member Registration

About the Webinar

Couples Mediation (aka, Marital Mediation), defined as mediation for individuals who wish to improve or maintain their intimate relationship with each other, is a more recent area of family mediation. In this webinar, we will present the development of Couples Mediation within APFM, how it differs in important ways from Couples Therapy, and the challenges in making this process known as a legitimate option both for practitioners and the general public. We will also discuss the implications for the development of consensual standards of practice, as well as integrating Couples Mediation into an existing family mediation practice. Finally, we will review ethical considerations in such situations as:

1. Couples initially seeking reconciliation, or a divorce, who switch paths during mediation and decide to pursue the opposite path.
2. Dealing with mixed-path couples (i.e., one who wants to separate or divorce, and the other who wants to stay together). In this context, we will also discuss the importance for training of “staying in your lane

About the Presenters

Susan K. Boardman, Ph.D.

Susan K. Boardman, Ph.D. got her degree from Columbia University in social psychology. Her interests as a researcher, teacher, and mediator, focus on how group dynamics, personality, and gender differences affect family communication and conflict resolution. For the last 19 years she has been in private family mediation practice, specializing in Couples Mediation, on which she has published a number of articles. She is currently serving on the APFM Board as Chair of the Couples Mediation Committee, and conducting research on Couples Mediation practitioners.

Mike Jonsson, J.D.

Mike became a licensed California attorney in 1993, and his practice was limited to family law matters for his entire career. He was trained as a mediator in 1998, and incorporated that as part of his practice in succeeding years. After attending APFM meetings and seminars in 2013 and 2014, he converted his practice almost entirely to Divorce Mediation. In early 2024, he retired his law license, and from all Divorce Mediation cases. Since then, his focus has been solely on Couples Mediation. Mike is presently the Vice Chair of the Couples Mediation Committee.

Tess Worrell

Tess Worrell has worked full-time as a family mediator for nearly 15 years. Prior to entering a mediation practice, she worked as a clerk then staff attorney for the Indiana Supreme Court. She was then named Executive Director of the Indiana Commission for Continuing Legal Education. During her tenure there, the board developed the training requirements for mediators to receive cases referred by the court system. Tess’s role was to travel country taking mediation training and bring back recommendations to
the Board. In the process, Tess fell in love with mediation.

Especially in the family realm, Tess saw the opportunity for families to work through issues cooperatively and make decisions tailored to their unique needs and desires. While she primarily applies these mediation techniques for couples navigating divorce, she has an emerging practice in Couples Mediation where she uses mediation techniques to assist couples in making informed decisions on how to improve and grown in their relationship.

Tess pairs her undergraduate training (which combined the study of psychology, biology, and sociology to understand people and how they relate to each other) with her training as an attorney. This equips her to guide clients to create agreements that meet the multiple areas of their own needs as well as those of their spouse, their children, and others affected by their relationship. Couples explore concrete areas such as finances, parenting, conflict resolution, and long-term goals as a couple to create a more intentional, joined vision for their relationship. Tess seeks to help clients find a path from what isn’t working to what will.

Time and Place

Thursday, January 22, 2025
12:00 Noon – 1:30 PM Eastern (9:00-10:30 AM Pacific)

Cost

Free for APFM Members, $50 for Non-Members.

More Information about the Webinar

Only APFM members and paid attendees will receive an email with instructions on how to log into the webinar, to be held using the services of zoom.us. If you are uncertain about the status of your APFM membership, log into the APFM website to check it. Help logging in is available here: https://apfmnet.org/website-help/.

You may wish to download the Zoom client software for your computer, tablet or smartphone prior to the webinar: https://zoom.us/download. The software should work on most computers. APFM cannot provide technical support for software issues.

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Confirmed APFM members and paid registrants will be sent information on how to login to the webinar. Additional confirmed participants will be sent login information after registration and prior to the webinar. For webinar access questions, please contact [email protected]. Please note that it may not be possible to provide immediate assistance on the day of the webinar.