Family Disputes

You can choose your friends but you sho’ can’t choose your family, an’ they’re still kin to you no matter whether you acknowledge ’em or not, and it makes you look right silly when you don’t.” 

― Harper Lee, To Kill a Mockingbird

As much as you love your family, there are times when you don’t like them much. Situational stress can cause even the closest of relationships to be under strain. 

Just as no 2 families are alike, no 2 family disputes are alike.  

We can help you resolve disagreements and move forward.

There are many situations where couples and/or families find it hard to get on the same page. Maybe one of these situations sound familiar to you:

• I love my partner but all we do is fight, communication seems hard for us.
• I want to see my grandchildren but my adult child won’t talk to me.
• Dad is in a nursing home but we’re still fighting over his belongings and what to do with his house.
• We are getting married but don’t agree on financials.
• We have an adult child living with us and need to set boundaries.
• Our family has been impacted by addiction and is having trouble communicating, we can’t move forward.
• We have a family business with some strong personalities and different ideas about who is in charge of what, it’s hard to get anything done.

Disputes happen in every family. It’s normal to disagree with each other from time to time, conflict that escalates or is prolonged can be damaging to your relationships, your health and make you feel stuck.

Your family has their own dynamics and each person in your family has their own values, views and beliefs. So what happens when your family members are not on the same page? Misunderstandings, arguments and lack of communication are pretty common.

Often times mediation is a great alternative to help all of your family members have a voice and participate in creating positive change. Unlike counselling, mediation is strictly forward focused and centered on actions and decision making.

We will work with you so that everyone understands the conflict, we can create a communication & an action plan to address it and you might just learn some skills to help better communicate and resolve issues in the future.

In mediation these plans often can’t be enforced however they are a guide for your family. Issues, needs and consequences are clearly defined and supported by each member of your family. Getting this buy in is a contributing factor to the success of your family relationships going forward.

In mediation-arbitration, awards on consent or the decision of the arbitrator can be enforced should they need to be.