When I started Go Divorce Clinic, I knew that changing the old way of doing divorces would not be easy.  The challenge was not just the significant task of restructuring the typical business protocols of the business of divorce that family law attorneys had created, but that there would also be the second necessary action which involved the critical component of educating the public about the very existence of a better way to divorce.  In my business, advertising about a divorce business is akin to advertising about funeral home services, it’s not going to be about a flashy marketing.  I realized early on that with the very discreet and intimate nature of divorce, my most powerful marketing would come by word of mouth from those individuals who had experienced not only a tremendously affordable, but superior service from Go Divorce Clinic.  The power of that synergy has propelled Go Divorce Clinic to expand at a phenomenal rate.  Now not only Sonoma County, but all bay area Counties utilize the divorce services of Go Divorce Clinic.  Some jurisdictions we initially had no office in, but the clients there had heard about our services, saw our website, and understood that there was no divorce mediator or family law attorney who could serve their needs the way that Go Divorce Clinic does.  And so we have grown exponentially at a rate that is truly extraordinary in this business, and in this economy.  I am thankful to those many couples over the years who have used our services, told friends and family, and taken the time to write testimonials to share with the public that there is a healthy and quick way to dissolve a marriage without unnecessary emotional toll and cost.

On July 1st, 2013, Go Divorce Clinic will relocate it’s main office from Healdsburg to Santa Rosa, Ca. and we are so excited!  Our comfortable home office in Healdsburg has received so many couples over the years, and has served as a safe and serene location to launch our unique service.  Our Healdsburg office remains to serve our north Sonoma county and Mendocino County clients, but now our new expanded office in Santa Rosa will become the main central office, with receptionist, comfortable waiting lobby, and multiple conference rooms.  Our new facility, equipment, staff and proximity to the Court 5 minutes away allows us to offer a new product we are so excited about:  The “One-Day  Divorce”!

Now offered in Sonoma County exclusively, the “one-day” divorce allows our clients to come to one typically 2 hour meeting and be done with everything they need to do to finish their divorce after that meeting.  Go Divorce Clinic has created a system where, when certain criteria are met by the divorcing couple, we reduce their total participation in the divorce to one typically 2  hour meeting at our office!  While a divorce decree cannot be issued until after the 6 month “cooling period” statutorily provided for by California law, our clients will be free to get on with their lives and have the issue of their divorce processing resolved with only a couple hours of their total participation in a single meeting required!!

At Go Divorce Clinic we understand that a divorce may be the single most emotionally difficult thing we may be faced with in our lives.  It’s a transition that deeply challenges the most well adjusted of us.  We know that not only do we provide a completely affordable alternative to traditional contested divorce, but we also provide the best in comprehensive divorce service to our clients, bar none.  If you are facing a marital crisis and would like a safe and professional place to come to for clarity and assitance, call our office today to schedule your fee-free consultation with me.  And visit our website at:  www.GoDivorceClinic.com  to learn more about how our clients have made Go Divorce Clinic the “Go-To” divorce service provider in northern California.

So many folks in marital crisis come into our office feeling that they have reached the end of the line.  “It’s over” they say at that first meeting.  But there are times when it doesn’t quite feel that way somehow when you are speaking with them openly and intimately.  There have been instances when I have felt more love in the room between the “divorcing” couple than animosity.  It has always struck me as curious when this happens, and I have learned to take the time to ask the couple, to inquire as to what this is that I am feeling between them.  The outcome of such conversations are always beautiful, even if they are sad.  And sometimes, on rare occasions, the conversation leads to reconciliation instead of divorce.

Instances of marital crisis are first and foremost human events.  At Go Divorce Clinic of Marin and Sonoma County we understand that every relationship is as unique in its beginnings as it is in its end.  No one should be handled like they were on an assembly line when they feel they are on the threshold of a divorce.  There is so much confusion, disorientation, and overwhelm when a life partnership seems to be coming to an end.  Of all the cases that come through our offices for divorce, there are instances when breathing space into the process and honoring the basic human dignity of both parties sometimes reveals that there is more to the matter than perhaps even the couple themselves is seeing.  In these moments I feel it is my responsibility to ensure that the couple is understanding fully the import, and scope of the decision they are about to make, and offer them an opportunity to arrive at a place of clarity that can form the foundation needed to move forward with whatever decision is best for them.

It is part of the ethical component of the vision of our company to provide space upfront in the process that might even allow for outcomes that don’t always offer us a profit on every occasion.  We have no agenda to divorce couples anymore than we have one to keep them together.  What we do have is a heart-centered committment to help couples in marital crisis discover what it is that serves them best as human beings, and empower them to do that in any way we can help through our office – and that doesn’t always mean divorce.  It is true that some people have come to our office expecting to divorce, and found that after the initial consultation they had re-considered, decided to work together to stay together, and are in fact still married today.

Some couples have come to our office needing something to change significantly in their relationship, and believing that that something had to be a divorce.  Upon some discussion and deliberation during our consultation they were made aware of other options they had not considered.  For some I have helped structure a trial separation with an informal written separation agreement that is not filed with the Court, in tandem with formal counseling, life coaching or other forms of relationship support outside our office.  For many, a formal legal separation with a leave to amend to a divorce in the future if they so decided was the answer.  For some, a spark of hope for reconciliation was what revealed itself at that first meeting, often leading to one or both parties working in scheduled sessions with me to enhance their communication and emotional skills to bridge the gap that was rupturing their intimacy.

It has always been important to me as the founder of Go Divorce Clinic that this company would be grounded in an ethical imperative that serves the needs of those who walk through our office door, and not the other way around.  Unlike family law attorneys, that means we sometimes risk losing business to outcomes that may move away from the specific divorce services we provide.  But it is necessary and appropriate that we do this, because I know children today who’s parent came into our office for a divorce, and still have mom and dad together and at home because during the initial consultation we stopped, listened and found something other than irreconcilable differences at work in their relationship.  Instead, with these cases, we helped them move toward a better marriage instead of a divorce.  We did the right thing instead of the profitable one, because my personal conviction is that abundance comes in more forms than money.

I hope we can help couples caught in marital crisis find whatever course they need to take to unfold the next chapter in their lives.  Let me know how we can help.  You can visit us at:  www.GoDivorceClinic.com

At Go Divorce Clinic we began our vision for divorces in Sonoma and Marin County with the notion that a divorce was first and foremost a human event, not simply a legal one.  Many divorcing couples in San Rafael and Santa Rosa come into our offices really wanting more from the divorce process than just the paperwork done right, and for it to be affordable.  Most all divorcing couples these days want the process to have some dignity to it.  They want to be in control of the speed and timing of the dissolution, so that it is not too fast or too slow for them to process the event emotionally.  Often times they want to ease into the initial divorce decision, and insure that both parties have an opportunity to be heard and to feel safe enough to continue, even though the whole thing may be very scary to one or both of them.  More and more people want to find a way to reflect back on the marriage with something other than bitterness and disdain for the other spouse, particularly if there are children between them.  Most interestingly perhaps to me is that many of our divorcing clients want to have a sense that their marriage, though ending now, had some beneficial meaning during its term.  They yearn to feel that the union had some purpose; that their partnership wasn’t all a mistake from the very beginning, that it all had not been a colossal waste of time.

Perhaps guilt and regret play some part in this, but I prefer to honor the needs of these particular clients as a genuine attempt to re-discover the value and beauty that once fired their partnership, so that they can move forward with the dissolution knowing that although not everything lasts forever, it doesn’t have to mean that the marriage itself was ever a mistake or a failure.  People put so much energy and faith into a marriage, and often they produce children out of it.  To come to the end of a marriage and look back on it with bitterness, regret or shame is certainly damaging to the future emotional health of the individuals involved.  The toxic feelings and perceptions that are stirred during a divorce may be even more damaging after the fact than even the very relational rifts that broke them apart irreconcilably as a couple in the first place.

At Go Divorce Clinic we understand the delicate nature of divorce, and the emotional toll and psychological strain it has on those moving through it.  We are not divorce lawyers.  We have a different assignment than family law attorneys.  We are not duty-bound to represent one party over anothers best interest.  We do not help our clients win the war of bitterness; a war where no one really wins in the end.  We provide a safe, compassionate, understanding and supportive environment first and foremost.  We provide information and creative strategies for a mutually beneficial dissolution.  A heart-centered divorce does not mean everyone is going to be happy and joyful in the midst of a marriage ending.  A spiritual divorce does not mean we chant and burn sage and all the sad feelings drift away immediately with the incense.  A heart-centered divorce simply means we prepare a space for all the human aspects of divorce and honor them.  A spiritual divorce means we consider more than ourselves in the process, as we learn that a dissolution requires the same cooperation, the same teamwork, that gives any marriage its mileage during its lifetime.

Today, divorcing couples expect more from divorce services than coming out on top with their divorce lawyers, or dragging on endlessly with a mediator over every little crumb in the estate.  Today’s divorcing couples want dignity throughout the process.  They want to move forward without feeling tethered to a guilt, shame, bitterness or overwhelm that only multiplies through a divorce process that serves lawyers and not the people paying them for help.  It isn’t pollyanna to want to end a marriage with care and respect.  It’s important to people going through a divorce that this critical juncture in their lives be handled right, and it is important to our culture that we learn to heal the ailing business of family law in the United States for ourselves and our children.  Visit us on the web at:  www.GoDivorceClinic.com

Just because I always advocate for attorney free uncontested divorce in Sonoma County, it doesn’t mean that there are not occasions when a good divorce lawyer is needed.  Sometimes the tide of goodwill between a separated couple has receded so far, it has left the marital ship aground.  I know first hand because there are several instances when I will refer individuals out to divorce attorneys when the situation has gone too far, and the couple is too polarized to cooperate.

Sometimes there are incidents of domestic violence, or child abuse, or a general volatility dynamic occurring in the partnership that is genuinely scaring one of the Parties.  Family law attorneys in this case are essential to help generate emergency orders that can protect the health safety and well being of children and affected spouses.

Sometimes in divorces there are situations where one spouse is controlling all the financial aspects of the marital estate and the other party feels beholden to, or a victim of the other spouses control of the purse strings.  In such cases a family law attorney is critical in supporting the dis-empowered spouse, so that he or she may gain access to marital funds to help them begin the transition toward separating and beginning a new life outside of the marriage.

Sometimes a spouse can fail to disclose all marital assets, or debts.  A divorce attorney can through a process called “discovery” compel a full and transparent disclosure of everything in the marital estate, including all forms of income.

Lawyers are not the evil empire, they are extremely valuable tools when used in the right context.  Fortunately most divorces don’t require such extreme methods of intervention, and that is why Go Divorce Clinic is the “go-to” solution for most couples facing divorce in Santa Rosa, Ca. and Sonoma County.  Find out how you can save money and avoid the extreme version of contested divorce with lawyers, by visiting your local office of Go Divorce Clinic today for a fee-free consultation.

Visit us on the web at:  www.GoDivorceClinic.com