One area that may be synergistically productive is networking with
mental health professionals. As a counselor and therapist, I can't
estimate the number of times I have worked with one or both partners
in a marriage headed for divorce before either partner contacted an
attorney.
Typically in these cases, counselors are in a position to make
referrals to attorneys. The collaborative law model is so consistent
with the world view of counselors that I am sure my colleagues will
be very glad to make such referrals once they are educated about this
option. In your local community, there are probably a number of
professional associations for mental health professionals who have
regular meetings for which they need speakers. In most cases, a
presentation by an attorney about collaborative family law would
satisfy requirements for mandatory continuing education with which we
all must comply, and put you in front of a room full of potential
referral sources. If anyone is interested, I'll get together some
specific organizations' contact information to and post it later.
Synergistically, I see an excellent opportunity here for attorneys
and counselors to partner. Counselors make their living with the
language of collaboration. In addition to being a referral source, we
can be very helpful in preparing clients for collaboration, coaching
them on the necessary communication skills, even facilitating
collaboration meetings. I can even imagine that attorneys deeply
rooted in the adversarial model could benefit from some of this kind
of coaching/training.
