Divorce can be one of life’s most difficult experiences. At JSSA, we help you move forward through what is often a long, expensive, and stressful process together so that you can experience your divorce as a transition, rather than a trauma. In partnership with the Collaborative Project of Maryland (CPM) we offer Collaborative Divorce, a team-based approach in which the divorcing parties agree to engage in an open, supportive, lower-conflict process to find shared solutions outside of the courtroom.
Our Two Homes, One Family program is a two-step process:
- Family assessment: First, you and your family meet with our program director for a needs and mental health assessment, one of the unique features of our program. While Collaborative Divorce is designed to help minimize conflict for couples, emotions can often run high and tensions become too intense to be resolved through collaboration. The prep work assessment helps our team understand whether one or both parties (as well as your children, if appropriate) could benefit from short-term therapy prior to beginning the collaborative process. If so, we will pair you with a JSSA clinician who can help you get to a place where you are ready to begin the Collaborative Process. Depending upon what we learn in the assessment, Collaborative prep work may include individual sessions to help one or both participants work through an unresolved issue, or couples sessions to help participants communicate more effectively before beginning the collaborative process.
- The Collaborative Process: After prep work is completed, we match you with a team of collaboratively trained professionals (typically two attorneys, a coach, and a financial professional) to reach mutually acceptable solutions that work for your whole family. Our team also helps you learn new skills for more effective communication, conflict resolution and post-divorce co-parenting.
Through these two steps, not only can you reach shared solutions without court interventions—but you can also learn new skills for more effective communication, conflict resolution, and post-divorce co-parenting.
One of the goals of Two Homes One Family is to make Collaborative Divorce available to families that might otherwise not be able to afford this process as an option for their divorce or child custody resolution. For this reason, we offer the program to families of moderate means in Montgomery County, MD. Program qualification is determined on a case-by-case basis. Once you are accepted into the program, we will provide you with an estimated cost, which typically ranges between $10,000 and $12,600 (30 to 50 percent less than what most divorces cost in this area).
If you have questions about JSSA’s Two Homes One Family program please call 240-800-JSSA.
