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Therapeutic Family Mediation
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Therapeutic Family Mediation
Helping Families Resolve Conflict

  • Howard H. Irving - Joseph L. Rotman School of Management, University of Toronto, (Canada), University of Toronto, Canada
  • Michael Benjamin - Private Practice, Santa Rosa, California, University of Connecticut Health Centre, USA

June 2002 | 424 pages | SAGE Publications, Inc

"The text is filled with good advice, practical examples, and provides a strong grounding in TFM, as well as its theoretical underpinnings. It is useful for students and practitioners alike. The text is accessible and well-written. . ."
--RESOLVE, Family Mediation Canada

"This is an important text, making complex ideas easily accessible and thought provoking. It will certainly become essential reading for family mediation practitioners and of interest to therapists. . . "
--Magazine for Family Therapy & Systemic Practice, UK

Therapeutic Family Mediation is a practice-based text grounded in a therapeutic family mediation (TFM) model created by the authors. This is the first comprehensive treatment of the model, complete with clinical examples and practice strategies. The authors include a detailed review of the model's five stages, accompanied by a discussion of theoretical underpinnings, practice techniques, the mediation of parenting and financial plans, the importance of cultural diversity, and research trends based on a thorough review of the literature. Contemporary issues associated with family mediation in the 21st century are employed to illustrate the model in action with a full-length case presentation.

Key Features:

  • Guides the reader through the authors' five-step model: Intake/Assessment, Pre-Mediation, Negotiation, Termination, and Follow-Up
  • Outlines the use of parenting plans and financial plans
  • Explores patterns of conflict and monetary issues
  • Explains the process of drafting contracts
  • Provides the tools necessary for assisting high-conflict couples and culturally diverse couples

Designed as a practical hands-on manual or text for students and professors of social work, Therapeutic Family Mediation will also prove highly useful to mental health practitioners, legal professionals and mediators, couples going through divorce, and community workers specializing in family services.

About the Authors:


Howard H. Irving, Ph.D., is a professor at the University of Toronto, Faculty of Social Work, and cross-appointed to the Faculty of Law. He was the Co-Director of the Joint Law and Social Work Program. Dr. Irving has been a practicing family mediator for the last 25 years. In the past few years, he has developed an international reputation, giving courses and speeches in the United States, Canada, Israel, and Hong Kong.

Michael Benjamin, Ph.D., is a family sociologist, with specialized training in family mediation and family and marital therapy. He has been involved in family mediation for the past 20 years as a theorist, researcher, trainer, teacher, author, and practitioner, both privately and through the family court. Dr. Benjamin practices as a marital and family therapist, a custody and access assessor, and a research consultant.


 
I. Introduction
 
1. Introduction
 
II. Therapeutic Family Mediation
 
2. The TFM Approach: Overview
 
3. Practice Skills
 
4. The TFM Approach: Step-by-Step Guide: Phase 1: Intake/Assessment
 
5. The TFM Approach: Step-by-Step Guide: Phase 2: Pre-Mediation
 
6. The TFM Approach: Step-by-Step Guide: Phase 3: Negotiation
 
7. The TFM Approach: Step-by-Step Guide: Phases 4 & 5: Termination & Follow-Up
 
8. Full-Length Case History
 
III. Substantive Issues
 
9. Parenting Plan: Part 1, Related Topics
 
10. Parenting Plans: Part 2, Basic Elements
 
11. Financial Plans: Part 1: Technical Matters
 
12. Financial Plans: Part 2: Patterns of Conflict
 
IV. Special Issues
 
13. TFM and Cultural Diversity
 
14. Family Mediation & Research
 
V. Final Word
 
15. Final Word

This is an important text, making complex ideas easily accessible and thought provoking. It will certainly become essential reading for family mediation practitioners and of interest to therapists. . .

Di Elliott
Magazine for Family Therapy and Systemic Practice, UK

"The text is filled with good advice, practical examples, and provides a strong grounding in TFM, as well as its theoretical underpinnings. It is useful for students and practitioners alike. The text is accessible and well-written. . ."

RESOLVE
Family Mediation Canada
Key features
  • Contains several case examples and clinical illustrations.
  • Serves as a practical, hands-on manual for those studying or practicing family mediation.
  • Discusses and reviews leading issues in the mediation literature to show how they play out in the TFM model. 

For instructors

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ISBN: 9781452264158

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ISBN: 9780761923138
$129.00

This title is also available on SAGE Knowledge, the ultimate social sciences online library. If your library doesn’t have access, ask your librarian to start a trial.