mediation posts

With a divorce rate of 37 per cent in Canada and over 50 per cent in the United States, there is a good chance that either you or someone you know will have to deal with divorce.

"I wanted to write this book to not only help people going through divorce, but to remind them of what they want to be at the end of the process," says divorce mediation expert/author Diana Mercer.

Mercer, whose previous book, Your Divorce Advisor, focused on the nuts and bolts of what happens in a divorce proceedings, realized she wanted to write something that helped people move past the range of emotions and focus on the next phase of life. Making Divorce Work: 8 Essential Keys to Resolving Conflict and Rebuilding Your Life (A Perigree Book, Published by Penguin Group and available Dec 7 in North America ) by Diana Mercer and Katie Jane Wennechuk focuses on how to end a marriage with mediation and avoid the unhealthy process that is often overshadowed by anger and combatant lawyers.

The book uses personal stories by couples and workbook exercises to show someone the skills needed to handle the divorce, eight mediation techniques, how to deal with anger, grief and hurt feelings and how to deal with custody issues, assets and ending the relationship. " No one needs to go through "homewreckonomics" which is what many couples go through, which means their assets are reduced to nothing during the divorce process," says Mercer.