Renegotiating Family Relationships

“In Renegotiating Family Relationships, the author suggests that mediation can be used in many cases of divorce to keep families out of the courtroom....Utilizing case histories and contemporary research, Emery offers strategies on how to define problems, set up caucuses, focus on issues instead of emotions, and review areas of agreement and disagreement.”

—Negotiation Journal (on the first edition)


“Provides sage advice without offering panaceas. This book is for law libraries and university libraries, but it would be best in the hands of those involved with divorce and child custody problems.”

—Bimonthly Review of Law Books (on the first edition)


“This is the most comprehensive, in-depth work to date on the practice of divorce mediation to resolve child custody disputes. Emery presents a uniquely optimistic model for helping families cope effectively with some of the most painful life processes they may ever face. This compassionate, wise, empirically supported, and immensely usable guide is indispensable reading for any mental health clinician who works with families.”

—Alan S. Gurman, PhD, Senior Preceptor, Clinical Psychology Training Program, University of Wisconsin-Madison, and Consulting Faculty, The Family Institute at Northwestern University


“This second edition further solidifies Emery's place among the most innovative and insightful thinkers about divorce and divorce mediation. The book's conceptual framework and practical steps add up to an inclusive, focused, and child-sensitive approach to conflict resolution. Emery has defined the next step forward in divorce mediation.”

—Jonathan W. Gould, PhD, ABPP, private practice, Charlotte, North Carolina


“Emery has done it again. This book presents the art and science of understanding the psychological pain associated with marital separation and helping families make the transition through and beyond divorce. The second edition documents significant advances in knowledge about the intervention pathways that influence emotional recovery for all family members. With a focus on mediation, the book draws on insights from Emery's own 'gold-standard' longitudinal study and his extensive clinical experience, together with the latest international research on family dispute resolution. Emery's trademark humor and warmth and the assured hand of a master scientist-practitioner are evident throughout.”

—Jennifer E. McIntosh, PhD, Director, Family Transitions, Melbourne, Australia


“This outstanding book contains many clinical insights into the emotions and dynamics of couples going through divorce, in the context of the best and most recent research. Emery provides an excellent overview of child custody issues and dispute resolution procedures. The clear writing style makes the book readily accessible to a wide range of readers. All practitioners who work with divorcing couples—as well as researchers who study divorce—will want to own a copy. Educators will find it a definitive text for graduate seminars and upper-level undergraduate courses on divorce and family law. Emery is one of our best and brightest, and the second edition of this important work represents a major step forward in our understanding of divorce.”

—Paul R. Amato, PhD, Arnold and Bette Hoffman Professor of Family Sociology and Demography, The Pennsylvania State University


“The book is packed with cutting-edge research and powerful insights about the emotional process of ending a marriage. It provides a unique, in-depth guide to emotion-focused mediation that helps parents resolve disputes in the best possible way so their children can thrive. Research described in the book shows this approach has a positive influence on two powerful predictors of children's healthy adjustment: how parents contain conflict and how they stay involved in their children's lives in meaningful ways. An essential resource for anyone who cares about helping separating parents and their children navigate the challenges of divorce.”

—JoAnne Pedro-Carroll, PhD, clinical psychologist, Rochester, New York; founder, Children of Divorce Intervention Program


“A highly readable, pragmatic, evidence-based guide. This book is firmly grounded in the author’s astounding command of the complex emotional dimensions of leaving a spouse, being left, or being a child whose parents have separated. It is 'must' reading for all divorce professionals and those training to be divorce professionals, including mediators, family therapists, social workers, lawyers, and judges.”

—Katharine T. Bartlett, JD, A. Kenneth Pye Professor of Law, Duke University School of Law


“Emery is one of a small and elite group of mediation practitioners who are also rigorous psychological researchers. His approach to empowering parents to make decisions for their own families when facing separation or divorce is supported by strong evidence. This book shows how both legal and psychological thinking about families, children, and divorce have shifted over the last 30 years, and the impact that mediation practice has had. Demonstrating how to frame and address difficult issues effectively, Emery offers a useful road map for successfully restructuring disrupted family systems.”

—Robert D. Benjamin, MSW, JD, private practice, Portland, Oregon