As a member of the Family Mediators Association I am a qualified to undertake Direct Consultation with Children
As a mediator qualified to meet with and talk with the child or the children of those parents involved in mediation (contact and residence issues), I am able to talk with them so that I can learn from the children what are their views, needs, thoughts, feelings, beliefs and wishes and in so doing I can feed back to the parents so they can better understand the views, needs and desires of their children. Involving them in Direct Consolation is a safe and appropriate way to enable the child’s or children’s views to be appreciated while not placing onto the child or children the burden of the responsibility for the overall decisions of the parents.
Direct consultation with a child involves a mediator talking face to face with the child or children individually and away from the parents. The meeting is confidential of everyone including the parents. Sometimes the child or children may want all or some of their views fed back into the decision-making process but others may not want this to happen. These wished will be resepected.