Practical support through separation and divorce.
Facing separation or divorce?
Divorce coaching can help you regain clarity, confidence and control.
Separation and divorce can be emotionally and practically overwhelming. You may be facing difficult decisions about your relationship, finances, your home, your children and your future – often while trying to manage conflict and communicate with your former partner.
You don’t have to navigate all of this on your own.
At Crowther Mediation, our divorce coaching service provides confidential, practical and individual support for people going through separation, divorce and life after relationship breakdown.
Our divorce coach, Louise Neilson, helps clients understand what they are dealing with, identify their priorities and develop practical strategies to move forward.
Speak with Crowther Mediation today
Meet our Divorce Coach – Louise Neilson
Louise Neilson brings specialist divorce coaching expertise together with an extensive background in family law and mediation.
Louise is a fully accredited Practitioner and Master Practitioner in Divorce & Breakup Coaching and trained as a Master Practitioner under Sara Davison.
She holds undergraduate and postgraduate degrees in law from Cambridge University and previously worked as a barrister in London, specialising in family law, before becoming a senior university law lecturer specialising in family law. Louise has also completed foundation training in family mediation.
This combination of legal knowledge, family law experience, mediation understanding and specialist divorce coaching training gives Louise a distinctive perspective when supporting people through separation and divorce.
Her approach is empathetic, practical and focused on helping clients move forward.
Louise works with both men and women and offers divorce coaching sessions online, allowing clients across the UK and internationally to access support.
How can divorce coaching help?
Divorce coaching is about helping you make your own decisions with greater clarity, confidence and control.
Divorce coaching is different from both legal advice and counselling. It is a practical, forward-focused service designed to help you navigate the challenges that arise during separation and divorce.
Divorce coaching can help you:
- Understand what you need to deal with and where to start
- Feel less overwhelmed by the separation process
- Make important decisions with greater clarity
- Prepare for difficult conversations with your former partner
- Manage communication and reduce unnecessary conflict
- Prepare for meetings with your solicitor
- Make the most of your legal advice
- Prepare for family mediation
- Identify your priorities and what you want to achieve
- Develop boundaries with your former partner
- Manage difficult or high-conflict relationships
- Navigate co-parenting after separation
- Prepare for conversations about your children
- Build confidence and emotional resilience
- Develop a practical plan for the next stage of your life
Your coach won’t tell you what decisions to make. Instead, they will help you understand your options, identify what matters to you and work out the steps that are right for your circumstances.
What happens during divorce coaching?
There is no one-size-fits-all divorce coaching programme.
Your first session will focus on understanding your circumstances and identifying what you need help with.
Your subsequent sessions will then be tailored around your priorities.
Depending on your circumstances, coaching may focus on:
- Emotional resilience
- Decision-making
- Communication
- Boundaries
- High-conflict relationships
- Co-parenting
- Preparing for mediation
- Preparing for conversations with your solicitor
- Practical separation planning
- Rebuilding your confidence
- Planning for life after divorce
Divorce Coaching and Family Mediation
Divorce coaching and family mediation can work particularly well together, but they are different services.
Family mediation is an impartial process in which a trained mediator helps separating couples discuss and resolve issues such as finances, property and arrangements for their children.
Divorce coaching is individual support for one person.
A divorce coach can help you prepare for mediation by helping you identify:
- What is most important to you
- What you need to resolve
- What questions you need to ask
- Where you may be willing to compromise
- What you want to achieve from mediation
- How you want to approach difficult conversations
Coaching can also continue alongside or after mediation, particularly where you need support implementing new arrangements or adjusting to life after separation.
At Crowther Mediation, we can help you understand which service – or combination of services – may be appropriate for your circumstances.
Do I need a divorce coach if I have a solicitor?
A solicitor and a divorce coach provide very different types of support.
Your solicitor’s role is to provide legal advice and advise you on your legal rights and options.
Your divorce coach’s role is to provide personal and practical support.
For example, your coach can help you prepare for a solicitor appointment by identifying the questions you need answered and helping you organise the issues you want to discuss.
This can help you feel more prepared and make your legal appointments more focused.
Divorce coaching does not replace legal advice. We recommend obtaining independent legal advice where appropriate.
Divorce Coaching FAQs
Is divorce coaching the same as counselling?
No. Divorce coaching and counselling have different purposes.
Counselling generally focuses on your emotional wellbeing and exploring experiences and feelings. Divorce coaching is more practical and forward-focused, helping you navigate decisions, communication and the practical challenges associated with separation and divorce.
Depending on your circumstances, counselling and divorce coaching can work alongside one another.
Is divorce coaching legal advice?
No. Divorce coaching does not provide legal advice and does not replace a solicitor.
Your coach can help you prepare for conversations with your solicitor and identify questions you may want to ask, but your solicitor should advise you on your legal position and rights.
Can divorce coaching help if my former partner won’t communicate?
Yes. Coaching can help you consider different ways of communicating, establish boundaries and develop strategies for managing difficult interactions.
Your coach will focus on what you can control rather than trying to change the behaviour of your former partner.
Can I have divorce coaching while attending mediation?
Yes. Divorce coaching can be used alongside family mediation.
Your coach works exclusively with you, while your mediator remains impartial between both participants. The two roles are therefore separate.
Is divorce coaching confidential?
Your coaching sessions are confidential, subject to the usual professional and safeguarding limitations that apply where there is a serious concern about someone’s safety or wellbeing.
Do I have to be getting divorced to have divorce coaching?
No.
Divorce coaching can be useful if you are considering separation, have recently separated, are going through divorce or are adjusting to life after your relationship has ended.
Can divorce coaching help with co-parenting?
Yes. Co-parenting support can form an important part of divorce coaching, particularly where communication between parents is difficult.
Your coach can help you develop strategies for communicating with your former partner and keeping the focus on your children’s needs.
Other Mediation services
Workplace Mediation
Workplace disputes can be very costly and time consuming for management. They can also have a negative effect on employee relations and on the wider organisation.
Learn more about Workplace Mediation
Family Mediation
Family mediation is a voluntary process which allows separating or divorced couples to sit together around a table and have a discussion – not an argument – in a safe, controlled, professional environment.
Learn more about Family Mediation
Legally Guided Mediation
This advanced mediation model provides an invaluable opportunity for clients to be supported through the process by their legal representatives.
Learn more about Legally Guided Mediation
Starting conversations
You don’t have to know exactly what you need before asking for help.
If you are considering separation, going through divorce or trying to work out how to move forward after your relationship has ended, divorce coaching can give you a confidential space to step back, think clearly and work out what comes next.
Speak to Crowther Mediation today to find out how divorce coaching could help you.
Arrange a confidential consultation
Contact us today to arrange an initial conversation with our divorce coaching team.
