Developmentally informed, trauma responsive mental health supports and dispute resolution services in the beautiful and peaceful Adelaide Hills.
Email: admin@lotuscreekpsychology.com
Fax: +61(0)8 5117 3179
Psychology and Mediation
"Peace begins with a smile."
Mother Teresa
Collaborative facilitation
Collaborative Facilitators guide separating couples through the divorce process with less acrimony and adversity, which reduces harmful toxic stress and develops a more effective parenting relationship post-separation. Nick is accredited member of the Australian Association of Collaborative Professionals and is an accredited Family Dispute Resolution Practitioner. Nick has over twenty years of international commercial experience running complex multi-party co-operative programs and has post-graduate training in advanced negotiation.
Conflict coaching
Conflict coaches provide confidential, one-on-one, strengths-based conflict management support. Conflict coaching builds the client’s awareness of self and their ability to better manage the conflict. It is either used stand-alone or as a pre-cursor to mediation in forums such as workplaces, families, business partnerships and collaborative practice. Nick is a certified conflict coach with a passion for helping people to discover for themselves how to resolve disputes and live a more peaceful life.
Family mediation
Family mediation is a specialised and highly regulated field of dispute resolution. Nick is an accredited Family Dispute Resolution Practitioner with the Commonewealth Attorney-General's Department. Nick has a post-graduate diploma in Family Dispute Resolution and a Masters in Dispute Resolution with a specialisation in juvenile studies. Nick can facilitate parenting plans and property settlements. In the event that mediation fails, Nick can issue aSection 60i certificate so that the couples may progress to family court. Nick promotes a child-focused, trauma-informed approach to his mediations.
Elder mediation
Elder mediation facilitates future care planning for a vulnerable elder, or manages conflict arising from disagreements on the interpretation of an Advanced Care Directive and/or an Enduring Power of Attorney. Elder mediation seeks to bring the voice of the elder into the room and focuses on their wishes and preferences. Increasingly elder mediation involves child alienation, where a grandchild may be estranged from the elder person. Nick is an Advanced Certificate Candidate with the Elder Mediation International Network, a Board member of the Elder Mediation Australasian Network, and is an elder mediator for the Office of the Public Advocate.
Child-inclusive mediation
Child-inclusive mediation brings the voice of the child into the room and is a very effective approach for managing parenting disputes. Nick works collaboratively with his wife, Niamh, who is a highly experienced clinic psychologist. Niamh provides her psychological services to the Department of Child Protection and has worked in school counselling and CAHMS settings. Nick and Niamh offer a unique trauma-informed service that allows the parents to hear the needs of the children articulated through the lens of an experienced child psychologist and a mediator trained in child protection. This is a very effective approach for high conflict families, where trust between the parents is broken.
Commercial mediation
Commercial mediation helps businesses avoid costly and time consuming litigation. It is especially helpful when the parties need to rebuild relationships to allow for the efficient ongoing operation of a venture. Nick has over thirty years of international business experience and is an award winning entrepreneur and tourism marketer. Nick enjoys helping small businesses to make wise decisions in conflict situations, which help to grow the venture. Nick is a nationally accredited mediator, a professional member of the Resolution Institute, and has masters-level training in advanced negotiation, leadership, business strategy and human resource management.
Group Family Conferencing
Group Family Conferencing is a family-led decision-making process, which focuses on the needs of the vulnerable person. Based on traditional Māori justice, Group Family Conferencing has become increasingly used in Australia for restorative dispute resolution. Nick has been trained in Family Group Conferencing and brings this to his work with extended families in elder-led and child-focused mediation. As a foster parent and respite carer, Nick has a passion for helping children in out-of-home-care find their voice and reduce conflict with foster or kinship carers.
Why we are different
We assume that our clients are exhausted by their conflict. We work with you to reduce toxic stress and prepare you to be at your best for a negotiation or a challenging conversation. Inspired by somatic experiencing techniques, we start by walking in nature and practicing mindful breathing. This grounding helps to reduce your emotional reactivity and increase cognitive focus. After one or more of these confidential sessions, you will have developed insight into the conflict narratives and underlying needs that drive the conflict behaviours. At this point, you are ready to progress to a confidential and voluntary dispute resolution process that you have helped to design. This is a safe space that matches your need for timeliness and future-focus and where you are in control of determining a fair and principled solution. This process can be very effective for simply task oriented agreements or even for more complex relational healing.
Please contact us, if you would like to discuss a dispute resolution solution that is designed specifically for your needs.
Our dispute resolution process
01. Intake
Reach out to us for a confidential and free discussion to triage your needs and to design the best fit solution.
No cost.
02. Coach
We provide you with as many pre-mediation conflict coaching sessions as required to prepare you for mediation.
No cost.
04. Agree
We help you prepare a draft agreement, which can be converted into a binding agreement by your lawyers.
Discuss quote at intake.
05. Coordinate
Our post-mediation supports help you maintain the agreement with respectful communication.
Discuss quote at intake.
Please contact us, if you would like to discuss our monthly payment plan options.
