Child Inclusive Mediation (CIM): Giving Children a Voice in Parenting Decisions
When parents separate, children's lives are significantly impacted. While parents are the primary decision-makers, understanding their children's experiences and perspectives can lead to more effective and sustainable parenting arrangements.
Child Inclusive Mediation (CIM) is a specialised and highly valuable service that ensures your child's voice is heard and considered in parenting discussions, in a safe and supportive way. It's not about asking children to choose sides, but about providing their parents with insights into their unique feelings and needs during this challenging time.
Who is this service for?
CIM is particularly beneficial for:
Separated or separating parents engaged in mediation about their children's care and future arrangements.
Parents who genuinely want to understand their children's experiences of the separation and their proposed living arrangements.
Children (typically aged 5 and above, depending on their developmental stage) whose views and experiences could inform their parents' parenting plan.
Families seeking to create truly child-focused parenting plans that promote stability and emotional well-being for their children.
How does it work? A Safe and Child-Focused Process
Child Inclusive Mediation is a carefully structured process that involves a skilled professional, known as a Child Consultant. The process typically unfolds as follows:
Parent Preparation: Parents first engage in standard mediation to identify key issues and demonstrate their capacity to hear and act on their child's feedback.
Child's Private Session: Your child(ren) will meet separately and confidentially with the Child Consultant. This is a private, age-appropriate conversation where children can express their feelings, worries, and thoughts about the family changes. The consultant is trained to engage with children in a way that respects their developmental stage and avoids placing any burden of decision-making on them.
Feedback to Parents: The Child Consultant then provides non-biased, impartial feedback to the parents during a separate session of the mediation. This feedback is carefully framed to help parents understand their child's perspective, without disclosing specific details that might breach the child's trust.
Informing Parenting Decisions: This invaluable insight helps parents consider new solutions or refine existing ones, leading to parenting plans that are more attuned to their children's genuine needs and preferences.
Child's Well-being Priority: The Child Consultant also offers advice to parents on how to best support their children through the separation process.
Our approach ensures the child's perspective is heard and carefully integrated, empowering parents to make truly informed decisions.
Outcome Goals: Listening for Better Outcomes
Through Child Inclusive Mediation, our goal is to help parents:
Gain a deeper understanding of their children's experiences and feelings regarding the separation and proposed arrangements.
Create more sustainable and resilient parenting plans that genuinely reflect and support their children's needs.
Reduce the burden of silence on children, allowing them to feel seen and heard without being put in the middle.
Improve parents' capacity to respond to their children's emotional and developmental needs post-separation.
Key Benefits of Choosing CIM
Puts Children First: Ensures parenting decisions are genuinely child-focused and responsive to their unique needs.
Empowers Children's Voices: Provides a safe and confidential space for children to express themselves without pressure.
Enhances Parental Understanding: Gives parents invaluable insights directly from their children, framed by an expert.
Increases Plan Durability: Agreements based on a clearer understanding of children's needs are often more effective and lasting.
Reduces Children's Stress: By feeling heard and understood, children often experience less anxiety about their parents' separation.
Expert Guidance: Benefit from the specialised skills of a Child Consultant who understands child development and the impact of separation.
Ready to ensure your child's voice is meaningfully heard in your parenting plan?
Contact Family Pathways WA today to learn more about Child Inclusive Mediation and how it can help your family move forward.