Collaborative mediatorChild specialistDivorce coachWelcome. Let me introduce my self. My name is, Darcia Tudor, and I am a Mediator, Child & Family Therapist, and Parent Evaluator. The 20 years I spent as a divorce attorney helped me to recognize that families need much more than a good lawyer in times of challenge and crises. I changed my focus from the battleground of the courtroom to the more healing approach of mediation and child and family therapy in 2000, and obtaining a Master's degree in clinical psychology and certification as a Washington State Mediator in 2005, which allowed me to develop skills in resolving emotional impasses that plague families during the divorce process, and obtain training in research based treatment modalities that reduce the detrimental effects of divorce on children and increase their ability to cope with trauma and stress inherent in the loss of family cohesion. My dual background in both clinical psychology and law gives me a unique perspective and allows me to serve families in the areas I enjoy most: mediation, child and family therapy and forensic parent evaluations. I work with family's who are in the process of significant change, and struggling to adjust to the stress inherent therein whether it is the result of adopting a new child, coping with an at risk adolescent, or meeting the needs of an aging parent. Nevertheless, most of my practice focuses upon the most common change in our children's lives today: the separation and divorce of their parents. Traditional thinking about divorce used to be of the all-or-nothing kind. Either you are married, and you share everything, or you are divorced, and you fight to keep it all. Even when it harms someone that is important to both of you: the emotional wellbeing and financial security of you child. There is an alternative: The "responsible divorce", through collaboration, negotiation, and mediation. The "responsible divorce" is about balance. You understand that there are conflicting needs, and you do your best to balance them. You know your intimate relationship is over, but you must form an alliance to raise emotionally and physically healthy children. Responsible parents will not allow You must the emotional and financial costs of the divorce process get out of hand and risk destroying their ability to cooperative parent and provide for your children. If you are already divorced, and the conflict continues over unresolved issues or disputes, let me help you mediate a truce.Families need effective affordable options to responsibly and fairly resolve the many issues involved in separation and divorce. And while a divorce may legally resolve spousal disputes, it provides no emotional support to help either the separating couple or the children. The collaborative or cooperative divorce process can provide both the legal, emotional, and financial support couples need to make responsible and balanced decisions. I have over 25 years of experience helping families positively adjust to significant life changes and explore new possibilities. The end is truly just a new beginning, if you can minimize the negative aspects and strengthen the positive aspects of any change.