Divorce Coaching

Clarity, structure, and steady support through one of life's hardest transitions.

I help you slow down, get organized, and protect what matters most — especially your children.

What is Divorce Coaching?

A divorce coach is your steady presence and strategic partner through one of life’s most disorienting transitions.

Most people come to coaching with too many tabs open — emotional, financial, legal, parenting, logistical — and no clear sense of what to do first. My job is to slow that down with you. We sort what’s urgent from what’s important, build a plan that fits your life, and move through it one steady step at a time.

Coaching is future-focused and goal-oriented. We’re not here to diagnose what brought you here. We’re here to figure out what comes next, and how you want to walk through it.

Together, we might:

Map where you are in the process and what comes next
Build a step-by-step plan you can actually follow
Prepare for difficult conversations — with your spouse, your lawyer, your children
Find the right professionals: mediators, lawyers, financial advisors, therapists
Develop co-parenting strategies that keep your children at the centre
Organize the paperwork, deadlines, and logistics when the overwhelm gets loud
Rebuild your sense of self, your routines, and your future

Whether you’re just starting to wonder am I really doing this? or you’re rebuilding on the other side, coaching meets you where you are.

Divorce Coaching vs. Therapy

These are different supports, and many people benefit from both at once.

Think of divorce as rebuilding something new on the site of something that came down. A therapist helps you understand the foundation — what was there, what cracked, what you want to learn from it. A divorce coach helps you draw the blueprint and oversee the build — what goes where, in what order, and who you need to bring in. The therapist tends to the ground. The coach tends to what rises.

Both roles matter. They simply do different work.

Therapy	Divorce Coaching
Past and present focused	Future and action focused
Heals what hurts	Plans what’s next
Clinical and diagnostic	Practical and strategic
Explores why	Builds how
Regulated mental health practice	Goal-oriented professional support

Many of my clients work with a therapist alongside our coaching sessions — and I welcome that. If something comes up in our work that’s better suited to a clinical setting, I’ll say so, and I’ll help you find the right person from my professional network.

Coaching is not a substitute for mental health care. If you’re in crisis, navigating active mental health concerns, or processing recent trauma, therapy is the right starting point. Coaching tends to work best when you’re ready to plan and act — even if you’re scared, exhausted, or unsure where to begin.

Who is Divorce Coaching For?

Divorce coaching meets you wherever you are. There’s no “right” time to start — only the time that’s right for you.

If you’re considering divorce

You may not have decided anything yet. You might be turning the question over privately, wondering if you’re overreacting, or quietly researching at 2am. This is one of the most common — and most isolating — stages.

Slow down and think clearly without pressure
Understand what separation and divorce actually involve
Explore your options before committing to any of them
Prepare emotionally and practically — even if you ultimately decide to stay

If you’re in the early stages of divorce

You’ve made the decision, or it’s been made for you. Now there’s a wall of choices: mediation or litigation? Lawyer or collaborative team? Who tells the kids? When do I move out? What about the house?

Choose the right process for your family (mediation, collaborative, litigation)
Shop for and vet mediators, lawyers, and financial professionals
Plan the conversation with your children and your wider circle
Build a realistic timeline so you’re not making everything urgent at once

If you’re in the middle of the process

The paperwork is in motion. Conversations are heated, slow, or both. The kids are watching. You’re trying to function at work and parent at home while making the biggest decisions of your life.

Manage the emotional load so you can think strategically
Prepare for mediation sessions, four-way meetings, or court dates
Develop communication strategies with your co-parent
Keep your children at the centre when conflict tries to take over
Stay organized when there are too many tabs open

If you’re finalizing

You’re close. Parenting plans, settlement terms, the practical handover. The decisions made here shape the next decade of your family’s life.

Pressure-test parenting plans before you sign
Prepare for the transition to two homes
Build the routines, agreements, and communication structures that will actually hold
Make sure your children’s needs are reflected in the final agreements

If you’re rebuilding after divorce

The papers are signed. Now what? Co-parenting rhythms need to settle. Identity, routines, and confidence need to come back. And eventually — dating, new partners, blended families.

Establish co-parenting structures that reduce future conflict
Reclaim your sense of self, your routines, and your goals
Navigate dating readiness, introducing partners, and new family dynamics
Build something better than what came before

A Parent Coach's Lens on Divorce

Most of my clients are parents. And while I work with you individually, not as a couple, the parenting piece is woven through everything we do.

Decades as a Child and Youth Care Practitioner, parent coach, and foster parent have shaped how I work with divorcing parents. I’ve spent years watching how children experience family transition, what protects them, and what quietly harms them. That knowledge sits in the room with us.

When co-parenting communication gets reactive, and it will, I help you find the response instead of the reaction. Not because reacting is wrong, but because of this:

Children absorb the temperature of the conflict between their parents.

The work we do on your communication, your boundaries, and your decision-making isn’t just for you. It’s one of the most protective things you can do for your kids.

You don’t need to be a “perfect” co-parent. You just need someone in your corner who understands both sides of the equation, yours and your children’s, and who can help you keep them at the centre even when everything else is in motion.

What We Work On Together

Every coaching relationship is shaped by what you need. Some clients come with a clear goal. Others come to brainstorm and need help just naming where to start. Both are welcome.

Here are some of the areas I work in most often:

Process and decision-making

Choosing between mediation, collaborative practice, and litigation
Vetting and selecting mediators, lawyers, and financial professionals
Preparing for mediation sessions, four-way meetings, and consultations
Attending mediation alongside you as a support person, when permitted
Pressure-testing decisions before you commit to them

Communication with your co-parent

Moving from reactive to responsive communication
Drafting difficult emails and messages before you send them
Setting boundaries that hold under pressure
Reducing conflict triggers and avoiding the most common traps

Your children

Talking to your kids about the separation, at every age
Brainstorming what you want in a parenting plan before you sit down with a mediator or lawyer
Navigating two-home transitions and routines
Supporting children with additional needs through the change
Recognizing when a child needs more than parents can provide

The practical and logistical

Organizing the paperwork, deadlines, and moving parts
Building a realistic timeline so nothing falls through the cracks
Coordinating with the professionals on your team
Preparing for court dates, settlement meetings, and key milestones

Your own ground

Managing the emotional load so you can think clearly
Rebuilding routines, identity, and confidence
Dating readiness and introducing new partners to your children
Blended family dynamics and step-parenting

If you don’t see your specific situation here, that doesn’t mean I can’t help. Reach out and we’ll talk it through.

Client Review

"I am in a very high-conflict, post divorce situation. I was very hesitant about starting coaching sessions with Jenn because of a previous parent therapist who was not being honest. Due to it being court ordered, I had no choice but to make an appointment. Fast forward about a half of a year and I am so glad to have Jenn in my life. She listens without judgement, she understands and has compassion for what people are going through. She is a light in the darkness and has taught me so many things on how to maneuver through this tough stretch of life. Because of her, I have a new perspective on my situation and can honestly say I'm happier than I have been in a long time. Jenn truly is an amazing person and coach, and I am so thankful for her services."

google Review

Coaching for Couples

Most divorce coaching is one-on-one, but not all of it has to be.

If you and your spouse have decided to separate and want to navigate this transition collaboratively, for your children, for your finances, for your wellbeing, or simply because you’d rather build something good than tear something down, working together with a coach can be a powerful option.

This work is for couples who:

Are choosing to separate amicably and want to keep it that way
Want to align on parenting, communication, and logistics before bringing in lawyers or mediators
Are looking for a smoother, faster, less painful path through the process
Have decided to uncouple consciously and want support holding that intention
Want to model a healthy transition for their children

My training in Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) through my Family Mediation studies at York University, combined with years of court-ordered, high-conflict parent coaching, means I’m equipped to hold space when both parties are in the room, even when emotions run hot.

Shuttle coaching as an option

If sitting in the same room feels too charged, I also offer shuttle coaching, meeting with each of you separately and moving between you to support alignment without putting you face-to-face. This is especially useful when communication has broken down but the desire to collaborate hasn’t.

A note on what this is, and isn't

Couples coaching is not mediation. I’m not facilitating legal or financial decisions, drafting agreements, or acting as a neutral third party. What I’m doing is helping the two of you communicate, plan, and move through this transition with less friction and more intention. If you need formal mediation, I’ll refer you to one of the trusted mediators in my network.

When it works beautifully

Some couples arrive wanting to mark this transition with real care, sometimes even with a divorce party, a ceremony, or some shared way of acknowledging that they’re rebuilding rather than tearing down. It’s rare, but it happens, and it’s quietly beautiful when it does.

Whatever your version of we want to do this well, together looks like, I can help.

Why Work With Me

Divorce coaching is a relatively new and unregulated field. Credentials matter, but so do the practitioners behind them.

I bring something to this work that most divorce coaches don’t: decades inside the family system, on every side of it.

A Child and Youth Care Practitioner first

I started my career in 1997 working directly with children and youth in care. I know what family transition looks like through a child’s eyes, not theoretically, but from years of being in the room with children navigating it. That perspective shapes every conversation I have with divorcing parents.

A foster parent for 18 years

I fostered children with the Children’s Aid Society of Toronto for nearly two decades, including in a specialized treatment-assessment program for the most complex cases. I have lived experience with reactive behaviour, attachment, conflict, transition, and what holds families together when everything is hard.

A parent and grandparent myself

I’m a mother in a blended family of five children and a grandmother. I know what it’s like to navigate complicated family dynamics from the inside, not just professionally. For many of my clients, especially women navigating divorce later in life, that lived experience matters.

A parent coach with deep family-systems expertise

For years I’ve coached parents through high-conflict dynamics, neurodivergent family needs, court-involved parenting, and the everyday challenges of raising kids while life is in motion. That work translates directly into divorce coaching.

A practicing Family Mediator

I’m trained in family mediation and actively practicing. I can never serve as both your coach and your mediator, these are distinct roles with separate ethical responsibilities. But this dual training means I understand the mediation process from the inside, and I can prepare you for it in ways that someone outside the field cannot.

An Adults in Care case manager

I have worked for years on a part-time, permanent basis as an Adults in Care case manager, supporting adults with complex needs across the GTA. The skills I use there, assessment, advocacy, multi-stakeholder coordination, navigating systems, are the same skills that serve my coaching clients.

Certified Divorce Coach

I hold the Divorce Coach Certificate through the International Association of Professions Career College (IAP), the foundational training credential for this field.

A registered member of professional associations

Ontario Association for Family Mediation (OAFM)
Ontario Association of Child & Youth Care (OACYC)
Divorce Coaches Association of Ontario (DCAO)

Membership in regulated professional associations means I’m accountable to standards of practice, ongoing professional development, and ethical conduct in every area I work in.

What this means for you: when you work with me, you’re not getting one specialty. You’re getting a practitioner who has spent her entire career at the intersection of children, parents, conflict, transition, and systems. That’s a rare combination, and it’s exactly what most divorcing parents need.

Pricing & How It Works

Every coaching relationship starts with a free 30-minute call. We’ll talk briefly about where you are, what you’re hoping for, and whether we’re a good fit. No pressure, no commitment.

Sessions run 45 to 60 minutes, long enough to do real work, short enough to fit into a hard week. All pricing below is per hour. Behind-the-scenes work (preparing for a mediation session with you, reviewing documents, drafting communications) is billed in the same way and only ever with your approval in advance.

Hourly, $140 CAD / $100 USD

For when you need a thinking partner in the moment. Maybe you have one decision to talk through. Maybe you need to vent without judgment. Maybe you want some guidance and you’ll do the heavy lifting from there. Hourly is à la carte, book a single session, or a few, on your own timing.

Foundations Package, 6 sessions

$780 CAD / $560 USD (saves approximately 7%)

For clients who want a steady partnership through a defined chapter, a few months of active support, structure, and momentum. A typical Foundations arc might unfold something like:

Session 1, Where you are. Mapping your current situation, your most pressing concerns, and what’s quietly weighing on you.
Session 2, Where you want to go. Naming your goals, your non-negotiables, and what a good outcome looks like for you and your children.
Session 3, Your team and your process. Choosing the right professionals, understanding your options (mediation, collaborative, litigation), and building a plan for who does what.
Session 4, The hardest conversations. Preparing for the talks ahead, with your spouse, your children, your lawyer or mediator. Drafting language, anticipating reactions.
Session 5, Decisions and pressure-testing. Working through specific decisions on the table. Pressure-testing parenting plans, settlement ideas, or proposed terms before you commit.
Session 6, Integration and what’s next. Reviewing what you’ve put in motion, what’s still ahead, and whether continued coaching makes sense.

Full Journey Package, 12 sessions

$1,500 CAD / $1,080 USD (saves approximately 10%)

For clients walking through a longer or more complex process, pre-decision through finalization, high-conflict dynamics, or significant transitions involving children with additional needs. A typical Full Journey arc might cover:

Sessions 1 to 3, Foundation. Mapping where you are, defining what you want, and understanding the process landscape.
Sessions 4 to 6, Building your plan. Choosing your professional team, drafting your approach to communication, brainstorming parenting plan ideas, and preparing for the big conversations.
Sessions 7 to 9, Working the process. Active support as you move through mediation, legal meetings, or other formal steps. Real-time decision-making, communication strategy, and emotional regulation.
Sessions 10 to 12, Finalizing and rebuilding. Pressure-testing final agreements, planning the transition into two homes (or your new normal), and beginning the rebuilding work, co-parenting rhythms, identity, routines, and what comes next.

Every Full Journey package is shaped around your stage and your needs. The arc above is one example, yours will be your own.

A note on packages versus hourly:

Hourly is for support without commitment. You bring the question, I bring the perspective, you do the heavy lifting from there.

Packages are for partnership. They’re for clients who want me alongside them through a chapter, holding the bigger picture, tracking what’s been said, and bringing structure to a process that often feels formless.

Both are valid. Most clients know which one fits.

What I Don't Do

Coaching is powerful work, and part of doing it well is being clear about its limits. There are real, important services that families in separation need, and some of them aren’t mine to provide.

To protect you, and to keep our work focused, here is what falls outside my role:

Legal advice

I’m not a lawyer, and I don’t interpret family law or advise on custody, support, or the terms of your separation agreement. If you need legal guidance, I’ll encourage you to work with a family lawyer alongside our coaching.

Financial or tax advice

Divorce carries real financial weight, but I’m not a financial advisor or accountant. For questions about asset division, support calculations, or tax planning, I’ll point you toward a Certified Divorce Financial Analyst (CDFA) or an accountant.

Parenting evaluations or custody assessments

Coaching is not an assessment. I don’t conduct parenting capacity evaluations, write Section 30 reports, or produce custody recommendations for the court. If your situation calls for that kind of formal evaluation, it needs to come from a qualified assessor, not from me.

Acting as a witness in court

Our coaching conversations are private support, not evidence. I don’t appear as a witness or provide testimony. When coaching is court-ordered, I can prepare a structured written summary of our work for the court, and that is the only document that leaves our sessions.

Communication with your former partner

I’m here to support you, not to communicate with your ex on your behalf or pass messages between you. Coaching is one-on-one work focused on your perspective and your decisions. If the two of you want help working through specific issues together, that’s mediation, a separate service with a different structure.

Crisis or mental health emergencies

Coaching is not a substitute for crisis support or emergency mental health care. If you are in crisis or need urgent mental health support, please reach out to a crisis line or your local emergency services. Once you are stable, coaching can support the longer road ahead.

Take the First Step

Reaching out is often the hardest part. You don’t have to know yet what you need, or whether coaching is right for you.

The first call is free, with no pressure and no commitment. We’ll talk through what’s going on, and I’ll help you figure out a sensible next step, whether that’s working with me or pointing you toward someone better suited.

Sessions are held by phone or video. Confidential.