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Looking
Back 10 Years
Like
most new business ventures, The Alpha Center for Divorce Mediation
developed as the result of an entrepreneur believing she could
create a new and better approach to resolving an age old problem:
in this case, divorce.
Keila
Gilbert, Esquire, formed The Alpha Centeróalpha means new
beginningsófollowing her own experience with divorce. She
was convinced that there had to be a better and healthier
way to divorce that would benefit the family as a whole as
well as the divorcing partners. Of particular concern was
the childrenís emotional well being as well as the positive
effects for the spouses as they transition to a new stage
in their lives.
She
started The Alpha Center despite those who said that divorce
could only be handled and ìwonî through litigation. Fueled
by the desire to create a new approach Ms. Gilbertís strategy
was to form a focus group by pulling together professionals
from the fields of law, psychology and accounting and talking
to couples who had gone through litigated divorces. Together
they brainstormed about how they could improve the divorce
process for those couples whose marriages were ending. The
answer they found was mediation-- not litigation --and in
1994 the first Alpha Center office opened its doors in Doylestown,
PA. Ms. Gilbert and her staff helped couples to consider how
mediation could better serve their family needs and went one
step further by providing therapists and accountants to assist
during a familyís transition.
Today
In
a short decade The Alpha Center has grown to 10 offices in
Pennsylvania and New Jersey and soon will be expanding into
New York City. In the past year alone it has doubled the number
of offices and tripled its number of clients as more and more
couples continue to choose mediation. The Alpha Center believes
that the better informed and educated couples are the better
decisions they will make. Committed to this educational focus
The Alpha Center has been offering educational seminars and
workshops through continuing education departments since 1999.
The course topics range from how divorce actually works to
divorceís impact on children to surviving the divorce process.
The
Alpha Center also works with therapists throughout local communities
because therapists are often the first professional sought
out by those with troubled marriages. The Alpha Center provides
free-of -charge a Divorce Survival Tool Kit for therapists
to use with their patients. The tool kit is filled with articles,
bibliographies and guidelines that address both pre and post
divorce issues. Therapists know first hand how difficult it
can be for patients to see beyond the moment and figure out
how to have a healthy transition. The tool kit provides an
impressive and comprehensive set of resources.
Predicting
the Next Ten Years
While
no one plans for divorce, it happens. When a marriage ends
The Alpha Centerís mission is to help couples reach a fair,
amicable and healthy divorce and help the family to remain
a healthy family. In the next ten years and beyond The Alpha
Centerís goal is to ìgo nationalî, bringing mediation services
to couples and families nationwide.
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