Episode 67: The Myths and Benefits of Mediation with Susan Guthrie

April is legal month on The Divorce Survival Guide podcast.  Today, one of my favorite people on the planet returns to the show. Susan Guthrie joins me to talk about mediation and divorce. Susan is a nationally recognized Top Family Law and Mediation Attorney, and has been helping individuals and families navigate separation and divorce for 30 years.  When it comes to your impending divorce, if you have children, you and your spouse are going to be tethered to each other for the rest of your lives. Litigation is often the default choice for divorce, and with it comes animosity, anger, and bitterness.  What do you want your future to look and feel like? You can be bitter and angry, but who gets stuck in the middle? Your children.  Mediation allows for you and your soon-to-be-ex to choose to work together to restructure your family or relationship going forward. You have an opportunity to share information, identify the issues you need to discuss, and get help from your mediator. Mediation offers you the opportunity to advocate for you and your family, and sets the foundation for a lifetime of collaboration.  Show Highlights Susan explains exactly what mediation is and why it works well for many families (9:24) We discuss some myths and benefits of mediation (13:00) In mediation, the only people making decisions are you and your spouse (17:00) What to do when your spouse doesn't want to consider mediation, including knowing what motivates your spouse and why mediation suits their motivating factors (28:00) Susan's online mediation process and how it works (36:00) Mediation can be used for high-conflict divorce cases too, such as domestic violence cases (42:00) Learn More About Susan Guthrie:Susan Guthrie, nationally recognized as one of the Top Family Law and Mediation Attorneys in the country, has been helping individuals and families navigate separation and divorce for 30 years. Susan has a fully online practice and  provides online divorce mediation and legal coaching services to select clients around the world. As a leading dispute resolution professional, Susan is honored to serve on the Executive Council of the American Bar Association's (ABA) Section of Dispute Resolution as the Membership Officer and to be a Co-Chair of the Section's Mediation Committee. Susan is also one of the leading experts in online mediation in the country and trains other professionals in the practical and ethical considerations of conducting their mediations online through her business Learn to Mediate Online (www.learntomediateonline.com) Susan is the creator and host of the iTunes top podcast, The Divorce & Beyond Podcast (www.divorceandbeyondpod.com) and recently launched The Learn to Mediate Online Podcast (www.learntomediateonline.podbean.com) for online mediation and dispute resolution professionals. Resources & Links: Divorce in a Better Way The Divorce and Beyond Podcast The Learn to Mediate Online Podcast Susan on The Divorce Survival Guide Podcast Susan on Instagram Susan on Facebook  Susan on Twitter Susan on YouTube The Ultimate Divorce Survival Guide Should I Stay or Should I Go Facebook Group