Sheila Furr PHD

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561-470-7110

drfurr@sheilafurrphd.com

Life Planning, financial, legal, and emotional, in the beginning of a new relationship—using the collaborative process

The word pre-nuptial makes people cringe. It seems so unromantic and threatening when you are talking about marriage. You are in LOVE. As a psychologist I regularly work with young couples, or couples considering second…or third…marriages and they are deeply committed to each other, excited to take the legal step of marriage or co-habitation, but there are financial worries or legal entanglements, and sometimes pressure from parents and children from a previous relationship. What if they have accumulated some assets? What if there are adult children who are worried about an anticipated inheritance. These discussions create anxiety and stress, but not addressing them may create even bigger problems down the road.

My training allows me to address the emotional piece and I can help the couple navigate the relationship issues, but what about the legal and financial parts? Wouldn’t it be helpful to sit down with a psychologist, financial advisor, and lawyer together, as a life-planning team, to constructively discuss how to start them off on the right footing for a successful relationship?

The goal of using a collaborative team of mental health professional, attorney and financial expert is to help the couple openly talk together about their needs and interests and to make decisions that are good for both of them, as they begin what they hope will be a long future together. This not only allows them to begin the next step in their relationship in a respectful, dignified way, but teaches them skills to address the inevitable challenges which occur over a lifetime.

Family Mediator

Dr. Sheila Furr is a Florida Supreme Court Certified Family Mediator who helps divorcing couples in a voluntary and consensual process known as mediation to facilitate the negotiation of a divorce or dispute. Some couples would rather address the emotional and parenting issues with a mental health professional rather than start their process with a lawyer. Financial issues have a clear emotional component and sometimes Dr Furr co-mediates with a collaboratively trained financial expert. Should there be a need for legal advice, a lawyer can be brought into the process. When the full team makes sense, Collaborative Mediation might be the answer.

Child Specialist

As a Child Specialist, Dr. Furr serves as the voice of the child in the collaborative process, while keeping them out of parental conflict. The child specialist is a neutral member of the collaborative professional team providing support to the family and advocacy for the children. She helps the parents focus on the best interests of their children based on meeting them and assessing their needs. The purpose of a child specialist during the divorce process is to minimize the impact of the divorce on your children and to create an individualized parenting plan and timeshare schedule.

Neutral Facilitator

Serving as a Neutral Facilitator in the Collaborative Process, Dr. Sheila Furr guides you, your spouse/partner, and the Collaborative team through the Collaborative Divorce process. As the Neutral Facilitator, Dr. Furr will help divorcing spouses navigate through difficult and emotional discussions to ensure that the needs of the entire family are considered. As a psychologist and communication specialist, she will help guide discussion to keep communication productive and respectful. When there are minors involved, Dr. Furr will meet with the parents in the preparation of the parenting plan and timeshare schedule.

Accredited Collaborative Professional

Accredited Collaborative Professionals are amongst the most experienced Collaborative Professionals in the State of Florida. To receive the distinction of an Accredited Collaborative Professional, Dr. Sheila Furr met all the standards of education, ethics and experience set forth by the Florida Academy of Collaborative Professionals.