Separation is not a one-glove-fits-all process

At Parable, we listen to your need closely and create a process that serves the needs of your family, particularly the children

Unmanaged parental conflict hurts kids and a litigious separation process exasperates that pain.

There’s another way.

There are ways of communicating and negotiating that not only help you get what you want but also help you build resiliency for the future. Mediation helps you protect your children from stressful times. 

In our family meditation sessions, we will take the walls down, exercise the best interest of your children, help you understand each other better and negotiate effectively, and we will help you do what gets lost the most–connecting with one another’s humanity again.

Let’s address your conflict in a peaceful way.

The middle can be messy, we’ll help you get organized

glass ball reflecting sunrise

Providing a lantern in a fog

Separation can often be accompanied by feelings of grief, a sense of being overwhelmed by the choices ahead and not knowing how to get where you want to get. In mediation, we’ll give you the tools you need to reach a mutually satisfying agreement.

Focus on The Important Issues

We help you focus on the issues that are important to you and facilitate a productive discussion of these issues. Each session works towards reaching a fair agreement. In mediation you are in charge and nothing happens without your mutual consent.

Collaborative Problem Solving

When disagreements are met from an oppositional point of view as opposed to a collaborative one, they often increase physical and emotional stress on the parties and lead to little to no durable agreements. In mediation, you collaboratively will decide what happens for you and your family instead of paying huge sums for lawyers and judges to decide that for you.

The Children's Best Interest

In mediation, we work towards reaching decisions that are in the best interest of your children. Each session can include topics such as major decision-making, such as children’s educational needs and medical treatments, and parenting time, such as weekly schedules, holidays, and travels.

A Compassionate and a Customized Process

Separation can carry many different feelings, including feelings of shame and disapproval over the situation. Every family and their conflict is unique, in our approach we always work to meet the specific needs of your family.

Meeting the Diversity of Families (Or Diversity of Families)

Diversity of families makes their concerns and needs specific to them. In our practice, we work with families of diverse origins understanding that race, cultural backgrounds, sexual orientation, gender identity, and differently abled-bodies often require further customization and critical understanding of issues, in order to truly address the unique needs of each family.

You’re here because you have a vision of what you want and how you like things to turn out.

People walk into this process with an idea of how they want things to be. They know where they want to go and where they want to be, but they don’t know how to get there. They know the “what” but can’t see the “how” yet.

The pathway to your vision can be foggy and daunting. We‘re here to show you the ‘hows’ and provide a lantern to see where you’re going. 

We will listen to the details of your family dynamic and situation, customize a family mediation process that serves all the unique needs of your family, which can include race and immigration experiences. We will provide you with legal information* pertaining to your case and will walk you through the details of parenting plan, support calculations, division of your property, and other issues.

*Family mediators do not provide legal advice or counseling. They are a neutral party who help facilitate a conversation between you in order to help each of you reach a fair settlement of the issues at hand.

 

Hi, I’m Dr. Sara Shamdani

I hold a doctorate in Social and Political Thought and a Family Mediation certification from York University, as well as certificate training from one of the top law firms in Toronto. I have close to a decade of experience working with families and children, particularly those fleeing domestic violence. I use my academic and experiential training to understand people’s needs and then to clarify options and processes in a way that makes sense for them and their life. I have over a decade of combined experience as a mediator and an educator.

I am a published author, who loves to work through life’s complexities in writing, and an international speaker who has used her trauma-informed learning to advocate for greater understanding as a tool for peaceful negotiations.

Mission, Vision, Values

Transformation

Our mission is to transform conflict that may arise in the process of separation so that couples and families can move forward from their current issues and build resiliency for the future through their collaborative problem-solving.

Humanity

Our vision is to help families with the difficult task of seeing (more correctly perhaps, remembering) the humanity in one another more quickly through dialogue, so they can get to solving their problems together and reaching a durable agreement.

Purpose-driven

In mediation, we are goal and purpose-driven. Through dialogue and gaining further understanding, we work towards reaching a durable agreement on each disputed issue. 

Curiosity is the first step towards transformation

Connect with us and learn more specifics about your case