When you decide to separate from your spouse, you may no longer be in a committed and intimate relationship with them, but if you share children, you are still responsible for co-parenting in an effective way. Co-parenting during the divorce process and after the divorce is final is extremely important to the well-being of your children, who are in the midst of a major life transition. Amber Serwat of AMS Mediation serves as a co-parenting coach and works to help parents resolve their conflicts so that the negative impact on the children is minimized.
Benefits of Using a Co-Parenting Coach
The goal of a co-parenting coach is to offer support and assistance to one parent or a set of parenting partners who are hoping to co-parenting more effectively. A co-parenting coach is sometimes recommended by a divorce attorney, a custody evaluator, or a parenting consultant. Amber Serwat has both professional and personal experience that enables her to provide support to co-parenting who are looking to reduce conflict. Some of the benefits of using a co-parenting coach like Amber include:
● Develop strategies for protecting your children from the conflict between you and your divorcing spouse.
● Improved communication with your former partner so that issues that come up over time can be resolved more easily. This may include how to communicate about sensitive issues such as a new partner and/or new stepparent/blended families.
● Allows you to gather resources for best practices for co-parenting and joint decisions after a divorce. This might include strategies for exchanging the kids during parenting time transitions, how to manage schedule changes in a fair way, health care, decisions about education, discipline and extracurricular activities and even how to regulate a child’s cell phones and social media use.
● Develop strategies for managing negative communication and negative behaviors from your former spouse.
● Put a system in place to accurately track child related expenses and communicate about payment/reimbursement in a fair and non-threatening way.
Experienced Minnesota Mediator
Transitions during a divorce can be difficult for all involved. Co-parenting is especially trying if the conflict between you and your ex is high. Amber Serwat is a trained mediator and a co-parenting coach that can help you put strategies in place to keep the focus on your child or children’s wellbeing. If you would like more information about the co-parenting coaching services offered by AMS Mediation, call 952-252-1492 or email lynn@amsmediationplus.com.