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My name is Jennifer Barkin. I am an accredited Family Mediator (AccFM), Certified Divorce Financial Analyst (CDFA ®), Parenting Coordinator, registered MSW Social Worker (OCSWSSW) and a Certified Divorce Coach (CDC).
About Me.
Unlike most Family Mediators; I possess the unique combination of Child Development training and Divorce Financial training. My expertise in both areas enable me to help my clients generate sound and viable options which best suit their family's needs moving forward.
My interest in Family Mediation began back in 2006 when I chose Family Mediation as an elective subject during my MSW program at York University. I was intrigued that the mediation process allowed parties to reach mutually acceptable and satisfying resolutions to their issues while at the same time reducing conflict. As a result, I chose Family Mediation as my MSW internship placement where I was given the opportunity to spend my last year of school in the Peel community informing residents about court based mediation programs. During this internship; I was also given the opportunity to observe many Family court based mediations which resulted in settlements, keeping parties out of the courtroom.
I went on to spend the wealth of my time in private clinical practice where I provided counselling to couples and children, and supported families going through separation and divorce. Currently; in addition to my practice, I am a presenter at the Ontario Family Court of the Mandatory Information Program ( the "MIP", funded by the Attorney General) which all parties with a family law case in the courts are required to attend. before their cases may proceed. This program teaches participants about the court process, provides awareness as to the various alternative dispute resolution processes, and it provides information about minimizing co-parent conflict following relationship breakdown.
I furthered my studies by completing my Certificate in Family Mediation from York University; and by taking additional training courses in Parenting Coordination, Arbitration, Family Relations, and The Voice of The Child. In addition, I completed over 130 hours of Family Mediation Internship hours which gave me direct experience in all areas of Family Mediation including mediating Parenting Plans, and calculating Child Support, Spousal Support, and Equalization payments.
The combination of my education and my experience has taught me to work with all types of people from diverse backgrounds. It is my belief that people know what is best for their families and my goal is to support them in getting to a place where they wish to be. Personally; I understand the emotional aspects of divorce having gone through it myself with two young children, one of whom has special needs. Now that they are older, I volunteer my time leading workshops on array of topics pertaining to separation and divorce, and by supporting separated and divorced parties on multiple social network forums.
