By Nancy Williger Member IACP Research Committee
What did the IACP research study show us about how clients feel about each other after the Collaborative Process is over?
By: Dr. Randy Heller, Member IACP Research Committee
By: Robert M. Arthur, Member IACP Research Committee
At least in my practice group, we stress the respectfulness of the Collaborative Process as a differentiating factor compared to other divorce processes. Our clients seem to have heard that message, because it was the top reason that clients chose a Collaborative Divorce Process, according to the most recent IACP research study, the Divorce Experience Study. In that study, 78% of respondents who chose Collaborative for their divorce said that they chose Collaborative because it was a “more respectful process.”
By: Jeremy S. Gaies, Psy.D., and Adam B. Cordover, J.D., M.A.
By: Tonda Mattie, Member IACP Research Committee
By Linda Wray, Co-Chair IACP Research Committee
By: Deborah Clemmensen, Member IACP Research Committee
Recently, I was invited to a client lunch with a financial adviser trained in Collaborative Practice, with whom I work, and to whom I've referred several clients for assistance in both Collaborative matters and mediations. To my surprise and delight, I was seated at the table next to a former client (*Mary). To say that I did not recognise her would be an understatement. She literally looked like a new woman, and not because she had aged during the approximately eight years since I worked with her.
As I look back on my initial introduction to Collaborative Practice, the word “collaborate” held a multitude of meanings for me, and at the same time, much ambiguity as well. That became ever so much clearer when I attended my first IACP Forum in 2008.
Have you heard of Collaborative Divorce? We sure hope so. As the leading Collaborative Divorce organization, the International Academy of Collaborative Professionals seeks to educate the public and family law professionals about this unique process. And yet, we know we have a long way to go to compete with the traditional court-based divorce that has been made famous in movies like War of the Roses and Kramer versus Kramer.