Intended for healthcare professionals

Editorials

Family mediation

BMJ 1995; 310 doi: https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj.310.6994.1551 (Published 17 June 1995) Cite this as: BMJ 1995;310:1551
  1. Thelma Fisher
  1. National Family Mediation, London WC1H 9SN

    Doctors should consider referring divorcing couples for this service

    The government's recent white paper on divorce, Looking to the Future. Mediation and the Grounds for Divorce, puts family mediation at the heart of a new one year, no fault procedure of “reflection and consideration.” Family mediation has been developing in Britain for 15 years as a process for resolving disputes between separating and divorcing couples. Its defining characteristic is that a third person, the mediator, who has no personal stake in the outcome, is responsible for conducting a joint decision making process by the participants, who are invited to cooperate with each other to find mutually satisfactory agreements. The process works by the mediator moving the couple stage bystage from identifying the issues to be resolved to jointly considering and eventually choosing options. The issues can include arrangements for the children (where they should live and …

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