A Family Mediation Practice Serving
Separating Couples in Southern California
Desert Artist Snake Jagger
Welcome to the California Divorce Peacemaking Blog™!
This Blog aims to make information available about California Mediation practices, to introduce you to the Team of professional Mediators who comprise Desert Family Mediation Services (DFMS), and to describe our peacemaking styles and vision.
We use the word "peacemaking" not to imply some new agey concept but instead to emphasize the core values that mediation uniquely offers: For us the term speaks to a dedicated and focused practice of facilitating resolutions between people who hold opposing views about their otherwise shared history and what those divergent experiences mean in a practical sense to each of them in moving forward in their lives.
Conflict causes us all to become stuck, and yet conflict offers each of us the opportunity to grow. Peacemaking explores this tension in what is, hopefully, a masterful way and aspires to mid-wife a transition to a richer and more fulfilling future. It is grounded in an acknowledgment and respect for the interdependence that binds us all.
The members of DFMS believe that the relationships between couples are ground zero for the quality of all our lives, and that on a day to day basis these struggles define our experiences. This connectedness plays out in very important real life ways often involving power, property, money, and children. Our belief is that most family law disputes can be successfully mediated, and that the mediation alternative carries important benefits over traditional Court supervised divorce and domestic partnership dissolutions. At the same time, mediation is not appropriate for everybody.
If you have specific legal questions for need more information about any legal topic, try Thurman Arnold's California Family Law Blog and use the website search engine at the top of any page!
Each Partner Holds The Key to the Solution for Themselves and the Other
Contact Desert Family Mediation Services℠ Today!
We Mediate Divorce, Dissolution, Custody, Support and
Property Division Matters Within the Desert Cities Surrounding Palm Springs, and Within Riverside and San Bernardino Counties
Please visit us at Los Angeles Family Mediation Services℠!
Peacemaking Blog
Posted on Jan 3, 2016
Trans-generational and Emotional Reasons for Mediation And Mindfulness in Divorce The emotional benefits of mindfulness in divorce will not only save and protect you, they may resonant far into the ...
Continue reading "Emotional Benefits for Divorce Mediation - Mindfulness First!" »
Posted on Jul 15, 2012
The Power of Forgiveness in Divorce: How Lawyers Can Become Healers! The power of forgiveness is of immense importance to working with the feelings and difficulties we share in relationship ...
Continue reading "The Power of Foregiveness in Divorce!" »
Posted on Jun 9, 2012
We are pleased and honored to share the news of some special recognition that was recently given to DFMS Mediator, Thurman W. Arnold, III, for his efforts in helping to establish the new Riverside ...
Continue reading "DFMS Mediator Thurman Arnold, III, Receives Special Recognition for Contributions to the Riverside Courts' Family Law Mediation Program!" »
Posted on May 10, 2012
Palm Springs Divorce Recovery Group Begins June, 2012 Marriage Counselor/Divorce Coach, Bev Jewell, is offering another 6 week "Growing Through Divorce™" support group beginning the first week of ...
Continue reading ""Growing Through Divorce" Support Group Begins In June, 2012!" »
Posted on May 3, 2012
Divorce and Family Law Mediations, Riverside County, California The Riverside County Superior Court's Family Law Mediation Panel website profiles were published today. We are pleased to report that ...
Continue reading "Riverside County Family Law Mediation Panel Launches on May 3, 2012" »
Posted on Feb 22, 2012
Secrets of Peacemaking: Understanding-Based Guides for Opening a Dialogue With Our Inner Selves It is no secret among mediator legal and mental health professionals that the opportunities we enjoy to ...
Continue reading "Secrets of Peacemaklng - California Divorce!" »
Posted on Feb 11, 2012
Website Design, Development and Optimization for Divorce and Family Law Mediation This is written to anyone who is a mediator, or who is beginning to make the commitment to establish a mediation ...
Continue reading "Announcing WEBSITE DESIGN and SEO For Mediators By Thurman Arnold" »
Posted on Jan 10, 2012
Beware of Lawyers Who Advertise "Aggressive Divorce"! People enmeshed in divorce tend to think that they should hire the most aggressive divorce attorney they can afford. Some lawyers market ...
Continue reading "BEWARE: of lawyers who advertise "aggressive divorce"!" »
Posted on Oct 10, 2011
DFMS Is Now (Almost) 18 Months Old ! I want to compliment and honor those of you who have seen the terrible destruction and waste that is characteristic of family court litigation, and who have been ...
Continue reading "MEDIATION Is the Sane Alternative - But Only If You Value Your FAMILY And Your Money!" »
Posted on Jun 10, 2011
Litigation Is The Default Strategy For Adjudicating Conflict Some people believe that mediators don't hold the American legal system or the judges who play their role within it in high regard. That ...
Continue reading "LITIGATION Verses MEDIATION: ADVERSARY REALITIES Worth Considering Before Pulling the Trigger" »
Posted on May 8, 2011
What Marriage of Davenport Means for Mediation Family law mediators and collaborative attorneys, and those attorneys who decry the shameless lack of ethics on the part of some high conflict divorce ...
Continue reading "Client SANCTIONED When Her Lawyer DISCLOSED INFORMATION That VIOLATED the MEDIATION PRIVILEGE" »
Posted on Apr 12, 2011
"Mediation Intensive Training" at Green Gulch - the 2011 Redoux! Together with Bev Jewell, a mental health professional with whom I have co-mediated cases at my mediation center in Palm ...
Continue reading "2011 Green Gulch Mediation Training Redoux!" »
Posted on Feb 12, 2011
Q. My husband and I are planning a divorce. We read some of your blogs about mediation thank you for making so much information available. We have pretty much agreed how to divide our property. ...
Continue reading "Can You Just HELP Us with a STIPULATED AGREEMENT and How Much Might It COST?" »
Posted on Feb 3, 2011
As is to be expected, people in the midst of relationship transition are experiencing a deep range of emotions that include varying levels of personal distress. For some these are manageable when ...
Continue reading "How Might We Work With STRONGLY FELT EMOTIONS That Surface During Mediation?" »
Posted on Jan 1, 2011
While we wouldn't say that co-mediating your dissolution or custody matter is necessarily superior to engaging a sole mediator, we find that there are benefits to co-mediation that particularly assist ...
Continue reading "GENDER DIFFERENCES and the CO-MEDIATION SOLUTION" »
Posted on Dec 10, 2010
Mediation is a difficult and beautiful dance. People arrive with deeply held and heartfelt concerns, and they will continue to hold these core values no matter what occurs. It is not for the mediator ...
Continue reading "Mediation Is Not Appropriate For Everyone: It is a VOLUNTARY PROCESS With Boundaries" »
Posted on Dec 5, 2010
A disaster may be looming in 2011 for some of the California family law disputants who don't realize they are free to opt out of the litigation experience by employing mediation or collaborative law ...
Continue reading "2011 AMENDMENTS to the FAMILY CODE: MEDIATION Becomes Even MORE ECONOMIC" »
Posted on Nov 14, 2010
In the typical experience of divorce or partnership dissolution, parties may or may not make use of legal professionals. Estimates are that over 60% of people don't hire lawyers or even consult with ...
Continue reading "BENEFITS of MEDIATION Include Receiving ALL RELEVANT INFORMATION" »
Posted on Nov 8, 2010
There is a funny bit of nonfiction that has been making its rounds through internet emails. I think it illustrates a scientific basis why mediation may make sense for people who are unwinding their ...
Continue reading "Conflict Patterns Become HARD-WIRED. Mediation Can Help Parties to RE-WIRE." »
Posted on Nov 8, 2010
Is mediation the best choice for you? Will the other person in your life participate at all, or participate fairly? We can't answer those questions. We can speak to how mediation might work for you ...
Continue reading "Preserving AUTONOMY While Supporting MUTUALITY" »
Posted on Nov 4, 2010
We are pleased to announce that Attorney and DFMS Mediator Thurman W. Arnold III has received notice from the California Board of Legal Specialization of the State Bar of California that he officially ...
Continue reading "Mediator THURMAN ARNOLD III Recognized By California State Board of Specialization!" »
Posted on Oct 30, 2010
One reason why people become "stuck" is that they develop patterns of dealing with conflict, over time, with their spouses, domestic partners, employers, children, inlaws, and just about everybody ...
Continue reading "Understanding CONFLICT PATTERNS and WHY TO MEDIATE" »
Posted on Oct 29, 2010
Q. So I am wondering - why would we need mediation if my wife and I already know and are agreed about how to divide our stuff? I am thinking we should have a cheap divorce. A. You may not need ...
Continue reading "DO WE NEED MEDIATION If My Spouse and I Know Exactly What We Want to Do?" »
Posted on Oct 27, 2010
We believe that mediation serves same sex couples particularly well. It doesn't matter whether you are a domestic partner or one of the 14,000 couples that married during the window that existed from ...
Continue reading "Mediation As the First Choice for SAME-SEX Couples" »
Posted on Oct 24, 2010
Q. One of reasons why I am considering mediation is that that I've heard it is confidential. It is really important to me and my family that our personal matters not become public. How confidential is ...
Continue reading "How Confidential is "CONFIDENTIAL" MEDIATION?" »