An interview with Nathalie Sennegon Nataf, Family Mediator

I (Jennifer Safian) met with Nathalie Sennegon Nataf, a Florida Family Mediator, and asked her a few questions about her practice.

1. How do you help parents who are going through a crisis, a separation, or a divorce?

Before moving to Florida, I was a family law attorney for 25 years in Paris, France. I participated in the creation of the very first Children’s Lawyers Group. In doing so, I assisted hundreds of couples, families, and children in all types of proceedings. Having also worked side by side with psychologists and mental health professionals, meeting with families in complicated emotional situations has given me great insight into how I can best help people.

Such unique experiences with conflict led me to become a mediator and offer my services to people going through a separation to help them avoid painful, long, and costly proceedings. Even in the most conflictual situations, there are ways to come to agreements and allow the parties involved to keep control of their lives.

2. When is the right time for parents to get help from you?

The right time is when the people involved feel the need to get help. As I often say, a marriage was not built in a few days, and a separation can sometimes take years to materialize. The right intervention can save a couple from a separation and save the entire family. If the couple cannot remain together, then with some goodwill, respect for oneself and for one’s children, it is possible to separate intelligently.

I can guide and accompany the couple through the divorce process. I can also help them with co-parenting issues during and after the divorce proceedings — because unfortunately the problems often do not end with the divorce judgment.

3. What other family problems can your intervention be useful for?

As we know, some families experience particularly challenging times. One member in a couple may be suffering the loss of a loved one, an illness, or the loss of a job; or a couple may be faced with the failure of a child at school, or the management of an elderly parent, etc.

These difficult moments can have a negative effect on the communication between the couple, either through a lack of attention, of consideration, of respect, or simply because of an incomprehension of the other person’s suffering. I will help these couples express themselves to each other and also better listen to one another so that they can overcome these challenges together and move forward with a better understanding of their partner.