The heightened emotions that come with divorce often lead to impulsive action. The brain shuts down and couples jump into litigation without considering the consequences—or the alternatives. But the court system takes their power away and hands all of the decisions over to a judge, and at the end of the day, everybody loses. How can we reestablish communication between these couples, empowering them to make decisions on their own?Linda Schoonover Carley is a former family, dependency and juvenile judge with more than thirty years of experience as a judge, attorney and mediator. She is also the author of Divorce Made Simple, a no-nonsense guide that demonstrates her practical, holistic approach to avoiding the chaos of the court system. An Amazon Best Selling author and award-winning speaker, Linda uses storytelling to illustrate her passion for children and justice.Today, Linda joins Katherine to discuss how couples make impulsive decisions around divorce without a clear understanding of the consequences. She explains the danger in shutting down communication and offers her approach to teaching couples to communicate again. Linda speaks to the mediation process, describing how it empowers people to make decisions themselves and how to prepare for the mediation process. Listen in to understand why litigation makes couples lose sight of what’s important and learn to leverage alternatives like mediation and collaborative divorce.Topics CoveredHow couples make impulsive decisions around divorce based on emotionThe natural instinct to shut down communication in the divorce processHow shutting down communication escalates turmoil for the childrenLinda’s approach to teaching couples to communicate againWhy couples lose sight of what’s important during the litigation processHow mediation starts with the practice of finding agreementHow the parents’ relationship impacts a child’s idea of conflict resolutionHow mediation empowers people to make decisions themselvesHow to prepare for the mediation processIssues had during marriage will show up in mediationMake list of issues, rank in order of importanceCome in with an understanding of financial needsHow children can serve as an anchor for the mediation processThe fundamentals of time sharing or shared parental responsibilityThe difference between child support and alimonyConnect with Linda Schoonover CarleyLinda’s Website:http://lindaschoonover.com/Divorce Made Simple: https://divorcemadesimple.com/Divorce Made Simple on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/divorcemadesimpleResourcesDivorce Made Simple: The Ultimate Guide by a Former Family Judge by Linda D. Schoonover: https://www.amazon.com/Divorce-Made-Simple-Ultimate-Former-ebook/dp/B071NZBYZGConnect with Katherine MillerThe Center for Understanding Conflict: http://understandinginconflict.org/Miller Law Group: https://westchesterfamilylaw.com/Katherine on LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/kemiller1The New Yorker’s Guide to Collaborative Divorce by Katherine Miller: https://www.amazon.com/New-Yorkers-Guide-Collaborative-Divorce/dp/0692496246Email: [email protected]Call (914) 738-7765