Child Inclusive Mediation does mean that your kids sit in the same room as their parents and listen to them argue about arrangements. Yes, they are part of the process but are seen by specially qualified family mediators who have been trained to talk to children. We also use specialist children’s counsellors too.
If you want to consider child inclusive mediation, you should initially discuss this with one of our family mediation advisors, who will explain in more detail about the process. However, it important to know that both parents will have to give consent for their children to be included in the mediation.
Once you both agree, our specially trained mediator will invite your children to attend a private meeting. The meeting is private but obviously, if your child was to raise anything that was worrying, we would discuss this with you both. At know time will they be subjected to questioning about individual parents as our approach is more conversational. The aim is try and get an understanding of their feelings, what they would like from each parent, how they feel about the situation and what they would ideally change if they were able to. It is a very gentle process and most children who have participated, go away feeling as though they have been listened to.