GAYLE ZIEMAN, Ph.D.
Girard-Indian School Professional Building
2741 Indian School Road, NE
Albuquerque, NM 87106

Phone: 505.255.6002

MEDIATION AND PARENTING COORDINATION

For Parents Having Separate Households

What is Mediation and Parenting Coordination?

When parents need assisance over one or two sessions with decidin a set of focused issues, then the service is usually Mediation . Whem ongoing assistance is needed to improve co-parent commucication and cooperation, the the service is Parenting Coordination. Assistance is provided to help both parents and households create or successfully implement a Court-ordered Parenting Plan. Assistance is offered as a neutral third party in the areas of: child development and considerations, communication, cooperation, parenting plan advice and joint decision-making. Dr. Zieman seeks to reduce conflict, increase cooperation and trust, and prevent parents from returning to the Court over parenting issues.

When agreed to by the parents and appointed by the Court, Dr. Zieman works with parents to assure that the best interests of the child(ren) are served. Efforts are made to keep attorneys informed about the process of parenting assistance and to help them see the work between parents as a method to solve parenting problems outside of litigation. If there is an attorney appointed for the children (called a Guardian ad Litem), then close coordination is kept with him/her.

In some cases the parents and the Court agree that Dr. Zieman should arbitrate decisions if the parents cannot resolve conflicts through mediation and coordination. Dr. Zieman can arbitrate many co-parenting decisions, but can never arbitrate property or child/spousal support decisions or any decision which would change or violate a court-order.

The Process Of Services

Time Limited
Assistance is sometimes done around a single or defined set of topics. In such cases, meetings may be scheduled in one or more blocks of time. Sometimes, especially with older children, it is helpful or necessary for Dr. Zieman to briefly meet the children involved in order to understand how the decisions to be made will affect them.

Ongoing
In many cases assistance is expected to be an ongoing service which may continue regularly or sporadically over months or years. In such cases, the process in the beginning is more involved and well-defined. The process is usually:

1. An initial meeting is held with each parent alone to learn the history and the issues. One or two meetings are then held with the child(ren), if they are age 6 or older, to learn better about whom the discussions and decisions will involve. In cases where services extend over a long period of time, the children may be met with again.

2. Assistance sessions, depending on the family and situation, are scheduled as needed, typically every two to six weeks to start and later on a less frequent basis such as quarterly. Meetings are done with both parents togther. Sometimes under special circumstances stepparents are included.

Ground Rules

1. The ultimate goal is for the parents to learn to communicate, cooperate, and make decisions on their own without assistance.
2. Reference to historical events are restricted to only necessary, brief notes.
3. Fighting and arguing are not tolerated.
4. Meetings and telephone calls are planned to be with both parents. If a parent appears to be avoiding meetings in what Dr. Zieman believes may be a manipulative strategy to influence decisions or events, then meetings may be conducted with a single parent.
5. If a scheduled meeting is not kept or is canceled with less than 24 business hours notice, then the parent failing to cancel is responsible for all fees related to the meeting.
6. Payment of fees is to be at the time of service. When services occur by telephone or email, a retainer or guaranteeing credit card may be requested.
7. Dr. Zieman or either of the parents may request from the Court at any time that services be terminated or transferred to another professional.
8. The New Mexico Mediation Procedures Act (2007) applies. This means among other things that almost all statements made in meetings are confidential and connot be used in any later court process. The main exceptions are any statements which might express criminal intent or involve bringing legal action over the mediation itself.
9. Following each meeting Dr. Zieman will write a summary of the agenda and decisions made, and will send the summary to both parents.
10. Assistance services are offered to improve parenting communication and coordination, not to replace parental communication or as a method to handle immediate parenting crises. Dr. Zieman does not offer after-hours crisis services or access. Parents should anticipate potential problems and make advance appointments to deal with them.

Fees

Scheduled services are to be paid for at the time of the service. Typically the Court orders or the parties agree in advance how the parents are to divide the fees. Parent Assistance services are not covered by any medical insurance. Credit cards (MasterCard, Discover and Visa) are accepted.

The fee rates, subject to New Mexico Gross Receipts Tax, are:

10-20 min. consultations/service - $70
20-40 min. meetings/service - 5110
40-60 min. meetings/service - $210
60-90 min. meetings/service - $315
Written summary following joint meeting - $70
Monitoring parental e-mail exchanges - $105/month (reading ≤ 20 e-mails/month)
Monitoring reading e-mails beyond 20 per month - $15 each
E-mails sent/responded to - $20 each for e-mails ≤ 100 words &ersand; per hourly rates above for longer

All Information effective as of 1 October 2011.

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