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
Sometimes, we all need outside help to appease relationships.
Mediation is a conversation, a journey or a process. 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 explore options about the future of their marital relationship, unblock communication and find solutions to disagreements over children's education and health, finances, division of labour, in-laws, career change and other transitions.
Separation mediation - I support couples who are separating to share their views and find an agreement over financial and children arrangements, thus avoiding costly and stressful court proceedings.
Parent - adolescent/young adult mediation - I support participants to develop strategies to resolve conflict
and understand each other’s behaviours and attitudes.
Mediation within the extended family - I support constructive communication and creative solutions to conflict between grandparents and parents, older parents and their carers, siblings and other family members.
A mediation session usually lasts 1.5 hours and the mediation fee is 50€ per participant. One-hour individual sessions cost 50€. The drafting of a written mediation agreement is charged at the rate of 50€ per hour. In family matters, the mediator's fees are exempt from VAT.
Judicial assistance for mediation is possible under the same conditions as legal aid (qualifying income levels are revised annually). A leaflet in French from the Federal Mediation Commission is included in the Resources section of the site.
Family mediation costs may also be covered by the extended legal protection offered by certain family insurance policies.
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
During mediation, participants reach some form of mutual understanding even though this does not have to materialize in a written form. If a formal Mediation Accord (Accord de médiation) is signed, it 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.