HBO has a new series called “Divorce.” It follows the marital problems of Sarah Jessica Parker’s character, Frances Dufresne, her husband, Robert played by Thomas Haden Church, her two children, and friends. I was curious if there would be an episode on mediation and on October 30, 2016 there was an episode on mediation. Mediation is rarely portrayed accurately on television or the movies. I thought it was actually a better presentation of mediation than usual. Mediation is not as exciting as adversary divorce and it is
harder to condense into a few minutes. They decide to go to a mediator in order to avoid a costly and angry divorce. I like that the mediator used notebooks like we do but was surprised she mediated from behind a desk with in and out trays on the desk. I am curious how they found the mediator. The Mediator was surprised to find they had not told the children. We would have asked. She did not give any suggestions on how to speak with the children. The mediator did give them homework which is the way many couples looked at it. Also, her request to gather their financial data was essential. Their difficulty in gathering the financial data is common. Her assignment to figure out how to make this split happen amicably was good but we give a couple a worksheets which helps them see where they agree. Spoiler alert. Robert did not show up at the second mediation session and was at his lawyer instead. He did not tell Frances. Unfortunately, I have seen this happen too. Trivia Alert. Geoffrey Owens who played Elvin on the Cosby Show is Robert’s lawyer. It will be interesting to see what happens next.
Learn more about mediation at https://www.center-divorce-mediation.com/CDM CDM (324) 2/15/17