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michele@connectedco.ca
Connected Counselling and ConsultingConnected Counselling and Consulting
Connected Counselling and ConsultingConnected Counselling and Consulting
  • Home
  • About
    • About Michele
    • My Approach
    • My Values
  • Services
    • Individual Therapy
    • Couples Therapy
    • Separation & Divorce
    • Parenting Plans
    • Collaborative Divorce & Mediation Support
    • Consulting for Professionals
  • FAQ
  • Blog
  • Contact
  • BOOK ONLINE

Separation & Divorce

Separation and Divorce

Early Neutral Consultation (For Couples Starting Out)

Deciding to separate or get a divorce is incredibly stressful, and it is normal to feel overwhelmed. You might be wondering how to tell your children, what steps to take first, or how to make legal decisions. 

To help you start this journey calmly, I offer a 90-Minute Early Neutral Consultation. You and your partner meet with me together before hiring separate lawyers. During this meeting, I will:

  • Explain the different ways you can separate without going to court. 
  • Answer your questions in a safe, calm space. 
  • Help you both understand what your family needs to move forward peacefully. 

With over ten years of experience as a family mediator and collaborative professional, I focus on being a neutral peacemaker. I have seen hundreds of families succeed and stay strong after divorce because they chose a respectful, non-adversarial path from the very beginning. Let me help you find the right path for your unique family. 

Helping Parents and Families

Separation changes everything, but it does not have to ruin your family’s future. I work directly with parents to: 

  • Make healthy decisions about their children and minimize the stress of the separation on them. 
  • Choose the best, most peaceful legal process for their specific situation. 
Consultation for Family Lawyers & Mediators

IFS-Services

Separation and family mediation bring up a lot — fast. These services are short, practical, and focused on helping you stay clear-headed through a specific process, not on unpacking your whole history.

Before You Sit Down at the Table

Pre-Mediation Prep · 2–3 sessions recommended

A short, focused series of sessions to help you walk into mediation clear-headed instead of reactive. We’ll identify what tends to derail you in conversations with your ex — the shutdown, the spiral, the sudden anger — and build a simple plan so you can stay steady when it counts. This isn’t ongoing therapy. It’s targeted preparation for a specific, high-stakes moment.

Registered psychotherapy · Receipt provided for insurance · Paid per session, as sessions take place

Staying Steady Through Separation

Ongoing Support · 6 sessions recommended

Negotiating a separation is a marathon of small, high-stakes moments — the email that wrecks your afternoon, the meeting you can’t stop replaying. This isn’t about unpacking your whole history. It’s short-term, practical support to help you stay regulated through the process, session by session, tied to what’s actually coming up for you right now.

Registered psychotherapy · Receipt provided for insurance · Paid per session, as sessions take place

A Second Opinion When a Client Feels Stuck

For Lawyers & Mediators · 30-minute consult

A confidential call for when a client’s reactivity — stonewalling, escalating, going silent — is slowing things down. No referral or ongoing commitment required. Just a clearer read on what might be going on, and a concrete next step.

Book directly · professional consultation

Which one is right for me?

One specific moment coming up (a mediation date, a Collaborative meeting) → Before You Sit Down at the Table.

In the middle of an ongoing process (negotiation, disclosure, a string of difficult emails) → Staying Steady Through Separation.

A lawyer or mediator with a stuck client → the 30-minute consult line.


Both client-facing services are registered psychotherapy — confidential, receipted for insurance, and grounded in clinical training including Internal Family Systems (IFS). Neither is designed to be long-term or exploratory; the focus stays on this transition. If you’d like to go deeper at any point, we can talk about what that could look like.

Ways to work together

Before You Sit Down at the Table: 2–3 sessions to prepare for mediation or collaborative meetings

Staying Steady Through Separation: ongoing support in blocks of 6 sessions

Are you a lawyer, mediator or family professional? See my Consulting Services page.

Sessions are primarily virtual, with in-person appointments available in Dundas.

Connected Counselling and Consulting

Get in touch

  • Connected Counselling and Consulting
  • Dundas, Ontario
  • (905) 520-2705
  • michele@connectedco.ca

Services

  • Consulting Services
  • Parenting Plans
  • Collaborative Process
  • Separation & Divorce
  • Individual Therapy
  • Couples Therapy
  • Land Acknowledgement

At Connected Co., I believe healthy relationships are at the core of a fulfilling life. And relationships can be messy! Whether it’s your spouse, ex-spouse, child, parent, friend or work colleague, disconnection in these relationships means stress. I’m here to help.

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  • Couples Therapy
  • Individual Therapy
  • Separation & Divorce
  • Collaborative Divorce & Mediation Support
  • Parenting Plans
  • Consulting for Professionals