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Divorce and Family Mediation: Models, Techniques, and Applications. Edited by Jay Folberg, Ann L. Milne, and Peter Salem. Pp. 588. New York: The Guilford Press, 2004
The practice of divorce and family mediation lies at the juncture of law, counseling, social work, psychology and psychiatry. In the early 1970's, mental health professionals began to work as mediators in an attempt to help change the divorce practice and make it less controversial and "less adversarial." Those working at this interface between mental health and the law were often ostracized by other members of their profession. In particular, some bar associations complained that mental health professionals involved in mediation were practicing law, and mental health professionals complained that trained lawyers, (albeit their titles of lawyer and counselor), were practicing psychiatry.
The growth and acceptance of divorce and family mediation, from the psychiatrist, psychologist, social workers, and attorneys, over the past several decades has been stunning. There are now a number of books available for professionals in many fields on the subject which are written from the point of view of a particular discipline. That is to say, there are books written by lawyers for lawyers, books written by mental health professionals for mental health professionals, and books written by novices for novices. This book is a new volume, multi-authored and...