Family Mediation · Chicagoland & Online
Mediation for divorce, prenuptial, and postnuptial agreements — guided by Vanessa Bradden, LMFT. A calmer, more private path to durable agreements that the two of you have shaped together.
Vanessa Bradden, LMFT
Meet your mediator
Vanessa Bradden is a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist whose mediation practice is informed by years of clinical work with couples and families. Her training as an MFT emphasizes the connection between problems and relationships — a perspective that translates naturally to the mediation room, where the context of any decision matters as much as the decision itself.
Vanessa tailors her approach to the specific circumstances of each couple, and is committed to mediation that respects privacy and autonomy while supporting clear, durable agreements. Whether you are planning a marriage, navigating a separation, or revisiting an existing arrangement, the goal is the same: a path forward that the two of you have shaped together.
Services
A calmer, more cost-effective alternative to litigation. Together you will work through parenting, finances, property, and support — at your own pace and in private, with the goal of a complete agreement that you have both shaped and that the court can approve.
A clear, considered conversation before the wedding. Mediation helps you and your partner discuss assets, debts, expectations, and contingencies in a structured way, and produces a written agreement you can take to your separate attorneys for review.
Sometimes the right conversation comes after the wedding — after a financial change, an inheritance, a difficult chapter, or a desire to reset shared expectations. Postnuptial mediation gives married couples space to revisit and document their financial and household understandings.
How it works
We meet briefly — by phone or video — to understand what you are working through and whether mediation is the right fit. No commitment, no cost.
Most agreements are completed in four to eight sessions, scheduled around your lives. We meet in person in Chicagoland or online — whichever works best for both of you.
You leave with a written Memorandum of Understanding capturing everything you have decided. Your separate attorneys finalize the legal documents, and your agreement is filed with the court.
Begin
A free thirty-minute consultation by phone or video. No commitment.
Serving Chicagoland in person and clients anywhere via secure video.
