About Me
A former member of the Volunteer Mediation Service at the Family Court of Brussels (2015-2017), I have witnessed the strain of litigation on families as well as the uncertainty that surrounds the legal process.
I am a family mediator with professional experience in higher education, consulting and training, holder of a doctorate in accounting and of two postgraduate certificates in general mediation and family mediation. Accredited by the Belgian Federal Mediation Commission, I provide the framework where participants can negotiate safely and at the same time express and let go of painful feelings.
I am also trained in coparental coaching (Lorraine Filion), marital mediation (Marianne Souquet), solutions-oriented brief therapy (Benoît Demonty, Institut Narration) and emotionally focused therapy (Simona Herb, Psiris). I use these tools to de-escalate conflict, facilitate communication and problem solving during mediation sessions.
About Family Mediation
What is mediation?
For whom?
Duration and cost
... the process whereby an independent and impartial mediator facilitates the communication between spouses, parents or families in conflict and assists them in finding a solution to their dispute.
Marital mediation - I support couples to improve communication and find solutions to disagreements over finance, parenting, division of labour, career change and so on.
Separation mediation - I support couples who are separating to communicate and find an agreement over financial and children arrangements, thus avoiding costly and stressful court proceedings.
Mediation within the extended family - I support constructive communication and creative solutions to conflict between young people, older parents and their carers, siblings and other family members.
A mediation session with two participants lasts 1h 30 minutes and the mediation fee is 100€/session, that is, 50€ per participant. One-hour individual sessions cost 50€. Judicial assistance in mediation is possible under the same conditions as legal aid while qualifying income levels are revised annually. A leaflet in French from the Federal Mediation Commission is included in the Resources section of the site.
The drafting of a written mediation agreement is charged at the rate of 50€ per hour.
The session
A mediation session is like discussing a complex and sensitive issue with the assistance of someone trained in making difficult conversations work.
During the first session, the participants present their views on the conflict and if they commit to solve it in mediation they sign an Agreement to Mediate (Protocole de médiation).
The Mediation Accord
The usual outcome of mediation sessions is the Mediation Accord (Accord de médiation) which sets down in writing all the decisions taken by the participants. They can choose or not to make this written agreement into a court judgement.
After mediation
A duly signed Mediation Accord accompanied by the Agreement to Mediate can be filed with the Registry (le Greffe) of Brussels Family Court. Any party or both parties, through a counsel, may petition the court to approve the accord.