Introduction

Marital separation is a difficult event which could cause discomfort in children. The service has the goal to help parents already separated or in the process of separation and / or divorce, who want to find concrete and constructive solutions for themselves and their children in an out-of-court context characterized by a trusted climate. Family Mediation is requested by parents at the beginning or during of legal proceedings. It could have an effective preventive aim against the discomfort of all the family members. As an out-of-court service, parent volition is mandatory for the required intervention. However, even when mediation is required in phases after separation, it has the function of:

• Facilitate the dialogue between the ex-spouses to find satisfactory arrangements;
• Improve parents-children relationships;
• Developing forms of collaboration between parents;
• To encourage the children's psycho-affective development.

Activities

After a preliminary informational interview, at the Section you can orient yourself to choosing one of the following paths:  1. individual and / or joint consultation on parental, intrapsychic, interpersonal and social aspects of separation and divorce with an information purpose (3 encounters); 2. Family Enrichment Intervention: A Course to Enhance Marital and Parenting Resources in Crisis Situations (5 Encounters); 3. Orientation to individual and / or joint family mediation (5 meetings); 4. Family mediation with both parents with the ultimate goal of drafting a draft agreement that can subsequently be ratified at legal and judicial level (10-12 meetings per fortnight); 5. support for parenting in separation and divorce (5-7 meetings). 

HOW TO ACCESS TO SERVICE

  Parents interested in having more detailed information and / or taking an appointment to undertake a family mediation process should contact the Section secretary by telephone on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 12.00 to 15.00. On the days of the week when the service is inactive, the answering machine is always on hold to leave messages and book appointments. In the first telephone contact, a psychologist formed in family mediation will receive the request, also providing information on the intervention methodology. Parents will then be called to fix an initial interview. Meetings require payment of an individual ticket of € 30.00 to be paid directly to the Secretariat office  of the Family Mediation Section.