The Keys to Effective Family Divorce Mediation in Florida

My Experience in Family Divorce Mediation

My name is Matthew Brickman and at the time of this article I have conducted nearly 300 mediations over the past several years. As a professional family mediator I specialize in conflict surrounding family issues and 99% of the time the mediation session involves dissolving a marriage or relationship. The reason why people come to me for my services is because they have spent a great deal of time dealing with their conflict in a non-productive manner. At this point they have usually exhausted all of their options and understand that it will take an unbiased third-party mediator to help them move forward with their lives.

While conducting either family divorce mediation or a paternity mediation the understanding is usually that mediation will conclude with an agreement for the parties to go their separate ways and begin their new lives apart. When I have the opportunity to play a role in resolving the dispute it brings me great joy to know that when the dust settles I will have successfully helped the parties arrive at the best possible solution for their specific situation. I have been blessed with a career that moves people from point A of complete unhappiness to point B of feeling relieved and having a great weight lifted off their shoulders.

Many mediators view mediation as just a job and a means to pay their bills. I have a firm conviction that I have a purpose and this is what I was created to do on this planet. I suppose this is why I have received so many exit interviews from my clients thanking me for the outstanding job I have done to help them resolve their conflict. It is the most rewarding feeling that I can ever achieve in my professional career.

There have even been in rare instances divorcing couples reconciling at the close of the mediation session although this has only occurred in two of the nearly 300 hundred sessions I have conducted. I estimate that 99% of the time the goal is to dissolve a marriage or relationship through divorce and paternity mediation which typically results in both parties moving forward in separate directions. I do however like happy endings and whenever I am able to bring parties together or keep a family together it makes me extremely happy that I have been blessed with being a family mediator as a career. Simply put, I view myself as a professional peacemaker and I know that being a conflict resolution specialist is not what I do, it is what I am.