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We accept the following topics/Cases
Family Law Disputes: This includes child custody, divorce proceedings, and child support order modifications;
Neighbor Disputes: This includes frequent noise ordinance violations and issues with Homeowners’ Associations;
Workplace Disputes: Some examples of workplace or employment disputes include wage and hour disputes, and workplace harassment;
Business Disputes: Examples include contract disputes and business debt;
Housing Disputes: Examples include a landlord failing to maintain a habitable residence and housing discrimination;
Personal Injury Disputes: Examples include medical malpractice cases and motor vehicle collision cases;
Consumer Contract Disputes: This can include product liability and warranty claims; or
Environmental Disputes: Examples include toxic waste dumping and air pollution.
Neighbor Disputes: This includes frequent noise ordinance violations and issues with Homeowners’ Associations;
Workplace Disputes: Some examples of workplace or employment disputes include wage and hour disputes, and workplace harassment;
Business Disputes: Examples include contract disputes and business debt;
Housing Disputes: Examples include a landlord failing to maintain a habitable residence and housing discrimination;
Personal Injury Disputes: Examples include medical malpractice cases and motor vehicle collision cases;
Consumer Contract Disputes: This can include product liability and warranty claims; or
Environmental Disputes: Examples include toxic waste dumping and air pollution.
Mediation: The Positive Alternative
Michigan
The majority of Michigan counties now prefer that divorce cases go to mediation. This can be a tremendously efficient process, notably, if introduced in the first stages of divorce, frequently before filing. Mediation is voluntary and involves both parties who can meet with a neutral mediator to reach a mutually agreed arrangement collectively. In mediation, the most prevalent type of alternative dispute resolution, the mediator does not act as a referee and does not decide or produce any proposition. Instead, the mediator’s job is to manage complete neutrality while strengthening the parties to a resolution rather than moving to court.
Frequently Asked Questions About Michigan Divorce Mediation with WHWC Mediation Services
Yes! I am a Certified Domestic Relations Mediation Trainer from the State Court Administrative Office’s (SCAO) that is required to become an approved mediate in domestic mediations. This is a considerable portion of my practice because I consider mediation to be a highly efficient way to resolve divorce cases without extending to court and the additional costs involved.
Mediation is a supportive, voluntary process by which people can work out disputes outside of court. With the support of a qualified mediator, families dealing with divorce, child custody and parenting time demands and relevant issues are guided toward practical decisions through a process that is solution-oriented, and not adversarial. Through my private practice, Waugh’s Holistic Wellness Center (WHWC), I offer services devised to contribute to positive, cost-effective resolution to family law issues.
No. While most divorces can be settled through mediation, during the intake process, every case is screened, and if your case is not suitable for mediation, I will let you know early in the process and mediation will not occur.
Simply put, mediation works. The majority of cases can be decided outside of court if the parties are prepared to focus on constructive solutions, rather than assigning fault. In most cases, mediation is considerably more cost efficient than going to court. In divorce and custody matters, a harmonious resolution of conflicts is extremely beneficial. Family law cases are not a means of winning or losing. The objective should be that conflicts are resolved fairly for all parties, including children. I will seek to promote you to establish realistic ambitions and seek to reach them with the least loss to your family. Research has indicated that people are further likely to stand by their own promises than by a result imposed on them by a court. In matters as perplexed as child custody and parenting time, the parties may be further able than the court to arrive to a resolution that focuses on their individual values and needs. This kind of agreement maximizes the values and priorities of the parties. A court-imposed resolution may, instead, be based on legal principles that may sound illogical or unfair within the situation of your family. A voluntary agreement achieved through mediation will determine a positive tone for continuing post-divorce family relationships by avoiding continued trips to the courthouse. This will also lead to a less costly sitiation than a trial. Parents who litigate their custody disputes are much more likely to believe that the process had a detrimental effect on post-divorce relations than parents whose custody or support disputes are settled.
I consider the early stages to be the best for mediation. In many instances, it is most efficient to mediate before formal divorce procedures are initiated. I encounter that parties are most prone to reach cooperative solutions early on. However, if you have been litigating your divorce for a time, and have been ordered to mediation, or are altogether ready to decide to do mediation as an alternative to court, I am ready to support you.
Once you and your spouse have agreed to mediate, contact me to schedule an initial telephone intake interview at MYWHWC@GMAIL.COM. If I determine that your case is suitable for mediation, I will email you a packet with further information.
If your mediation is prosperous and you are prepared to resolve all the issues, you will yet need to attend the legal process and integrate your agreement into a legally binding judgment of divorce. I work with a network of referral attorneys who can assist you in completing the final paperwork. In many cases, the parties are able to prepare their own legal documents through legal self-help services at the county courthouse.
Yes. If you have an attorney, he or she is welcome to attend the mediation as your legal advisor. However, you need not retain an attorney prior to participating in mediation.
I charge a flat fee of $800 for a half day (up to four hours) mediation session. In most cases, the fee is split by the participants, with each paying 50%. Fees are due and payable prior to commencement of mediation. Due to COVID 19 I have payment options and Free or Reduced Rates on approval.
While a retired judge, former big firm partner or famed trial lawyer-turned-mediator may provide excellent ADR value for large-scale commercial lawsuits, there are many types of disputes in which the client may be better served by a mental health professional who is also a mediator. Divorce attorneys, contracting as they do with one of the most stressful transitions in anyone’s life, are more likely than commercial litigators to see the value in therapist mediators. Often, their clients bring powerful emotions into their legal consultation, which interfere with the dynamic outcome of issues in dispute. Though some divorce attorneys have a wonderfully warm “desk side” manner and justifiably take pride in the reassuring and personalized service they provide, it is a rare divorce attorney that can deal effectively with the emotional liability or intransigence of someone with a borderline personality or substance abuse disorder.
Divorce attorneys are accustomed to referring clients to therapists for treatment. In the collaborative divorce model, they apply mental health professionals as a matter of course. From seeing therapists as respected clinical resources, the ancillary use of which usually results in smoother, less stressful and more efficient procedures, it is not a gigantic leap to seeing therapists as potentially valuable dispute resolution resources. Accordingly, there is a higher comfort level with the belief of psychologists as mediators in the divorce context than in other civil litigation contexts.
The significance of a psychologist's mediator is not limited to the divorce situation. A therapist mediator can be the neutral preference in other types of family matters, such as estrangement among family members, disputes about elder care decisions, estate planning or inheritance, or dysfunction in family businesses. Besides this, they have employed psychologist mediators in sensitive litigation matters such as employment discrimination, sexual harassment, sexual assault or molestation, medical and psychiatric malpractice cases, and a variety of matters involving personal injuries, whether such injuries are physical or psychological. A psychologist mediator brings added benefit to the table in these delicate matters.
Consider the emotional needs of a personal injury plaintiff at the mediation table. At the most basic level, there is the need to be heard. Meeting this need may require more than the active listening skills which are the stock in trade of every competent mediator. There is a demand for true empathy, validation, and a respectful, properly paced process for coming to terms with loss. While attorneys are familiar with the types of loss recognized in law such as financial, reputational, market share, a psychologist mediator may further readily recognize that the plaintiff may have lost certain hopes and dreams, aspects of their relationships, and meaningful parts of their identity. Beginning to come to terms with loss is an essential qualification for settling litigation or to reaching a compromise in any dispute. Psychologists are experts in helping people find meaning and dignity in their experience so they can come to terms with loss.
On the other hand, there is the facilitative-evaluative continuum, attorney mediator styles slant towards the evaluative, in which the mediator helps the participants evaluate their legal position and the costs and benefits of pursuing legal remedies versus a mediated settlement. Psychologist mediators contribute to use a facilitative style. They equip psychologists to meticulously follow a client’s narrative, matching affect, language and pacing when useful. In contrast, they train attorneys to spot issues, apply rules to facts, and draw conclusions. Thus, a psychologist mediator is less likely to become impatient with a disputant’s pace. An impatient mediator can derail settlement by making a party feel hurried, disrespected or dismissed. Whereas attorney mediators focus on the content of communication, they train psychologists to simultaneously attend to content and process. Thus, a psychologist mediator may pick up on not only what is said, but how that content is talked about, including language, tone, and facial expressions, and body language, gestures, and other nonverbal cues. They train psychologists to pick up on metaphoric language used by clients, and relational dynamics within the mediation room which can either impede or enhance progress, and to use this knowledge in their work.
Perhaps the greatest value a psychologist mediator can provide is the ability to think outside the formalism of the legal process.
Divorce attorneys are accustomed to referring clients to therapists for treatment. In the collaborative divorce model, they apply mental health professionals as a matter of course. From seeing therapists as respected clinical resources, the ancillary use of which usually results in smoother, less stressful and more efficient procedures, it is not a gigantic leap to seeing therapists as potentially valuable dispute resolution resources. Accordingly, there is a higher comfort level with the belief of psychologists as mediators in the divorce context than in other civil litigation contexts.
The significance of a psychologist's mediator is not limited to the divorce situation. A therapist mediator can be the neutral preference in other types of family matters, such as estrangement among family members, disputes about elder care decisions, estate planning or inheritance, or dysfunction in family businesses. Besides this, they have employed psychologist mediators in sensitive litigation matters such as employment discrimination, sexual harassment, sexual assault or molestation, medical and psychiatric malpractice cases, and a variety of matters involving personal injuries, whether such injuries are physical or psychological. A psychologist mediator brings added benefit to the table in these delicate matters.
Consider the emotional needs of a personal injury plaintiff at the mediation table. At the most basic level, there is the need to be heard. Meeting this need may require more than the active listening skills which are the stock in trade of every competent mediator. There is a demand for true empathy, validation, and a respectful, properly paced process for coming to terms with loss. While attorneys are familiar with the types of loss recognized in law such as financial, reputational, market share, a psychologist mediator may further readily recognize that the plaintiff may have lost certain hopes and dreams, aspects of their relationships, and meaningful parts of their identity. Beginning to come to terms with loss is an essential qualification for settling litigation or to reaching a compromise in any dispute. Psychologists are experts in helping people find meaning and dignity in their experience so they can come to terms with loss.
On the other hand, there is the facilitative-evaluative continuum, attorney mediator styles slant towards the evaluative, in which the mediator helps the participants evaluate their legal position and the costs and benefits of pursuing legal remedies versus a mediated settlement. Psychologist mediators contribute to use a facilitative style. They equip psychologists to meticulously follow a client’s narrative, matching affect, language and pacing when useful. In contrast, they train attorneys to spot issues, apply rules to facts, and draw conclusions. Thus, a psychologist mediator is less likely to become impatient with a disputant’s pace. An impatient mediator can derail settlement by making a party feel hurried, disrespected or dismissed. Whereas attorney mediators focus on the content of communication, they train psychologists to simultaneously attend to content and process. Thus, a psychologist mediator may pick up on not only what is said, but how that content is talked about, including language, tone, and facial expressions, and body language, gestures, and other nonverbal cues. They train psychologists to pick up on metaphoric language used by clients, and relational dynamics within the mediation room which can either impede or enhance progress, and to use this knowledge in their work.
Perhaps the greatest value a psychologist mediator can provide is the ability to think outside the formalism of the legal process.
