Sometimes in life we suddenly see something and realise that until that moment we have not understood it at all. I had one of those moments when someone described the rollercoaster of grief - because that is what the pain of separation can feel like. The image above describes the emotional journey people take through grief - starting with denial and shock, fear and confusion, through anger and blame, shame and anxiety to the depression and helplessness of the low point of it all.
This is arguably the worst point, as there is sorrow without the distractions of blame and anger. It is a time of realisation and coming to terms with the new reality, even for someone who wanted the relationship to end, as there is still change and loss. It can be hard. What people don't always realise when they are in this dark place is that there are more stages to come on their journey. The stage of dialogue and bargaining eventually arrives and then acceptance and a plan for a new future. They can and will go on; they will have a life to live and a future.
In summary, when couples separate they - and indeed their children - experience grief, as they are living through loss. This is best described as a rollercoaster of emotions and the traditional processes that have evolved through the decades to 'help' couples resolve their differences are wholly unsuited to actually resolving anything. This is because they are adversarial and tend to promote discord and holding on to extreme positions.
Court proceedings may feel deeply attractive to the angry blaming person, as they offer an apparently legitimate outlet for their fury. By contrast mediation is an opportunity to listen, to try and understand each other, be mutually respectful and compromise. If you're mad as fire, this will be unappealing. I've lost count of the number of clients when hearing about mediation and what it can achieve, say firmly: 'Well that won't work. My ex is very unreasonable. There's no point in even trying to sort it out.'
But here's the thing, no one ever said to me that they wouldn't mediate because they were unreasonable. And here's another thought - people do arrive at the stage of being ready to bargain and talk. They will want to sort it out and move on. It happens. It may be in the middle of court proceedings, it may be some other time, but when you get to that point, suddenly all the fighting and messing about seems utterly pointless, a complete waste of time and money. That is a great time to mediate, because mediation is fast and effective and you will get where you need to be surprisingly quickly.
Everything can be sorted out, agreed and put behind you, you can move on from the conflict of the past and through dialogue and bargaining to acceptance and to a new and brighter future. You will have come up the other side of the rollercoaster and will be able to look back with relief on the journey you have accomplished - and be glad it is behind you. Nothing is so focused on getting you both to that point as mediation. Think about it.