Tag Archives: Dispute Resolution/Lowering Conflict

by | July 17, 2012 · 2:38 pm

Daisy Camp – upcoming divorce education classes

It’s time for another update on upcoming Daisy Camp divorce education classes!  The weekend retreat is scheduled as follows:

9.14.2012 – 9.16.2012 ”Daisy Camp WEEKEND Retreat”
Location: Hotel Location TBD
Cost: $ 325(full weekend) $150 (Saturday Only)
Scholarships are available
Time: 9:00a.m. – 5:00p.m.
Call Molly to RSVP 952-405-2060 or email:
Here is the whole list of available classes:
  • April 26th - Financial Concerns/Tax Advantages for Divorcing Families
  • May 8th Commitment to Me
  • May 19th – Daisy Camp Day Retreat
  • May 22nd - How to Protect Your Children’s Needs
  • June 12th Commitment to Me
  • June 19th - Managing Your Emotions in the Divorce Process
  • July 10th Commitment to Me
  • August 9th – Back to School; Keep it cool with Co-Parenting tips
  • August 14th Commitment to Me
  • Septmember 11th Commitment to Me
  • September 14 – 16th Daisy Camp WEEKEND Retreat
  • September 27th - Divorce Options
  • October 9th Commitment to Me
  • October 15th – Financial Concerns/Tax Advantages for Divorcing Families
  • November 9th 2012 Daisy Camp Day Retreat
  • November 29th – How to Protect Your Children’s Needs
For more information contact Daisy Camp at 952-405-2060 or daisy@daisycamp.org.

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by | January 2, 2012 · 4:36 pm

Two Heads Are Better Than One; A Team Approach

I recently talked with Janeen Massaros and Jeff Postuma about their service that they call A Team Approach where they offer a male and female team for Mediation, Parenting Time Expediting, Custody Evaluations, Parenting Skills Assessments, and Early Neutral Evaluations.  They developed the idea to offer the male and female team model for other services after working together on Early Neutral Evaluations (ENE). Not only are they able to offer a gender balance, but they can together call on their own specific expertise.  Learn more by watching the video below!

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by | August 3, 2011 · 3:40 pm

Ex Spouse Communications – Video Interview with Founder Joan Pechauer

Joan Pechauer, LMFT

Do you have trouble communicating with your ex-spouse about co-parenting issues? When you see that you’ve received an email from them, do you get that anxious feeling in the pit of your stomach that feels like you just drank a glass of motor oil? Well never fear, Ex-Spouse Communications is here! Founder Joan Pechauer says, “Send us your ex’s nasty email and we’ll write an effective response for you. ” That’s right: they will draft you a response letter that will express your concerns without starting a fight. This is the solution you’ve been waiting for. Watch my interview with Joan here:

Imagine this situation: your ex sends you an email saying they want to change this week’s parenting time schedule. Again. And as always, they couldn’t be more demanding about it or more inconsiderate of your scheduled plans with the kids. What you might find yourself doing in this situation is writing a strongly worded email back, telling them how rude they are to wait until the last minute to make this request, backing up your arguments with examples from when they have done this sort of thing in the past, maybe taking a shot at that new person they are dating who thinks they can contradict your rules for your kids, and totally putting them in their …STOP! That approach is not going to get you anywhere, and you know it. Your ex-spouse will never be persuaded that they’re wrong, no matter how good you think your points are. All that’s going to do is get you into another exhausting fight. So instead, just take a breath, and let Ex-Spouse Communications help.

You know what? If it helps you vent, go ahead and write your angry letter and send it along with your ex-spouse’s email to Ex-Spouse Communications. They will translate your belligerent rebuttal into an emotionally neutral response that is much more likely to actually get your ex-spouse to consider your legitimate concerns — and that’s really the goal, right? And if you need more than just an email, Ex-Spouse Communications also offers phone consultations and coaching.

To learn more about Ex Spouse Communications or if you are just looking for some free tips on what to do and what not to do when talking to your spouse, or free samples of effective letters, check out exspousecommunications.com

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by | July 18, 2011 · 8:00 am

Daisy Camp – Video Interview with Founder Jennifer Morris

Click for Daisy Camp website

I’m especially excited about this post about Daisy Camp founder Jennifer Morris. Not only is it regarding a great topic, Daisy Camp. It’s also one of the first interactive videos that we’ve recorded through Skype. We hope this will be a start to a series of interviews with helpful people like Jennifer Morris regarding helpful divorce/separation topics, like Daisy Camp. If you have ideas for future videos, let me know by commenting below or emailing me at arnoldlawandmediation@gmail.com.

In the video, I ask Jennifer Morris how Daisy Camp started, what Daisy Camp is about and who is a typical Daisy Camper, among other questions and answers that will give you a good sense for whether Daisy Camp is right for you!

Here’s a Daisy Camp Seminar Aug 2011 retreat.

From the Daisy Camp website:

Daisy Camp was founded in 2006 by Jennifer Morris, a local realtor who emerged from her divorce with a belief that women need more support to help them through this important transition. Jennifer’s unique idea of helping women through a “camping experience” has captured the attention of local and national media and has changed the lives of many women. Today, hundreds of “Daisies’” throughout Minnesota and beyond continue to gather regularly and help each other make the most of their new, “ever-expanding lives”.

You can go to the Daisy Camp FaceBook page by clicking here.

To contact Daisy Camp, email daisy@daisycamp.org or call and talk with Marlys Ousky at 952-405-2060.

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by | July 11, 2011 · 12:26 pm

Mediation Works North Offers Online Parents Forever Course

When ending a marriage, sharing custody of your children means learning to work with your ex-spouse. Sometimes this can be difficult, especially during — and after — a long divorce process. Luckily a new non-profit called Mediation Works North is making it easier than ever to build strong co-parenting skills – and now you can build those skills without the hassle of driving out of town. Check out my recent interview with the founder of Mediation Works North, Lois Warner:

Minnesota law requires parents going through divorce to take co-parenting classes. Here’s the punch line: in many Minnesota counties, these classes aren’t even offered. So to comply with the law you’d have to find one of these classes in another county. You’d have to make a long drive (in the snow if you aren’t lucky enough to get a divorce in the summertime.) You might have to miss work and pay for childcare.

Or, instead you could take one of the online Parents Forever classes offered by Mediation Works North. These classes offer informative content and skill-building, but without having to leave the comfort of your home and without having to drive to another county. They are interactive classes with a live facilitator teaching in real time. Classes are two hours long, and it takes two class periods to complete the course.

And remember: this is a genuinely valuable resource, not just a court order. You’ll learn to avoid putting the children in the middle of conflicts you might have with the other parent, to adjust your finances to the changes brought on by divorce, to communicate with the other parent, and more. The Founder of Mediation Works North, Lois Warner, started this non-profit because she realized that the law is quite a blunt instrument for dealing with co-parenting conflicts. Her Parents Forever program allows parents to learn to resolve potential conflicts outside of the context of a legal battle.

So if you are going through a divorce and would like to get some advice on how to peacefully resolve co-parenting issues but need more convenience than the traditional classes offer, then check out the Parents Forever online classes from Mediation Works North.

Here’s their contact information:
Mediation Works North
Mediationworksnorth.org
Phone: (218) 263-7307

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by | April 18, 2011 · 12:49 pm

Effective Legal Advocacy

I just read a thoughtful post about effective legal advocacy (how your lawyer speaks for you or presents your case) by Ron Ousky, a Minnesota Collaborative Lawyer who, literally, wrote the book on Collaborative Divorce. He gives a great example of how clients may initially be pleased when their lawyer sends a tough sounding demand letter, but may later realize that the same letter made their case harder to settle and cost them $250/hr to write, so they paid $250/hr to be worse off than when they started. For those of you looking for a lawyer or thinking about whether your lawyer is representing you well, you may want to ask your lawyer or potential lawyer what their style of legal advocacy is. If it is tough and demanding, keep in mind that you may get less than what you pay for.

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by | April 8, 2011 · 6:25 pm

Collaborative Divorce teleseminar

This is a speaker from Michigan, rather than MN, but I thought I’d point you to this Collaborative Divorce teleseminar I found hosted by DivorceMagazine.com. Here’s a link to the .PDF brochure for the teleseminar on Collaborative Divorce scheduled for April 12, 2011 at 8 P.M. Central Time.

From their brochure:

Guest speaker: Collaborative Family Law Attorney, Lori Becker
Date: Tuesday, April 12, 2011  
Time: 8 pm to 8:30 EST (7 pm, CST; 6 pm, MST; 5 pm, PST)  
Cost: $0
Divorce is a life‐changing event. A new process called the Collaborative Divorce Process offers a
better way to end a marriage. This groundbreaking method revolutionizes the way couples
divorce. It addresses your legal, financial, and emotional needs and achieves the best family
arrangement possible. Families at war produce only losers and no winners. This exciting new
process empowers you ‐‐ not lawyers or a judge ‐‐  to shape the outcome of your divorce. Do
your homework and learn more about this process that helps you, as a divorcing couple, focus
on your long‐term interests, not your short‐term anger.
Attend this Teleseminar
Find out about this alternative and see if Collaborative Divorce is an option for your divorce:  
• Discover the benefits of collaborative solutions for divorce, child custody and co‐
parenting issues, division of assets, and more.  
• Learn how Collaborative Divorce/Collaborative Practice offers guidance, information,
and respectful problem solving.  
• What makes Collaborative Divorce different?
• The process of Collaborative Divorce  
• How it is designed for settlement  

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by | November 23, 2010 · 6:28 pm

High Conflict Separation/Divorce?…Check out highconflict.net

While some level of conflict is to be expected in a divorce, does it seem like your divorce centers around a seemingly never-ending elevated level of conflict? Here’s a way to find out whether your concerns are well-founded. In the first video of Brook Olsen’s High Conflict Diversion Program he lists twenty situations including provoking the other partner, not wanting to give the other partner access to the child, and refusing to follow court orders. If your divorce exhibits 5 – 10 of these situations then your divorce is at risk for high conflict or has elevated conflict. 10 or more of the situations apply to you? It’s probably accurate to say that your divorce involves a high level of conflict. Take some comfort in the fact that you’re not alone: 25 to 30% of divorces involve high conflict while 60% are high conflict or at-risk to become high conflict. You can sign up to receive the free videos (don’t worry there are transcripts in the emails if you don’t have time to watch the whole thing!) at highconflict.net. The program sends out videos periodically so we’ll have to wait to see what strategies and solutions the program proposes, since I signed up myself so I could get all their helpful information emailed to me! http://player.vimeo.com/video/7891004

High Conflict Diversion Program Free E Course Lesson 1 from Brook Olsen on Vimeo.

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