Collaborative Divorce

Collaborative divorce is an option for divorcing couples that provides an alternative to traditional litigation and the often, destructive consequences that accompany it for both the children and the family.

The collaborative divorce model helps parties to divorce with respect and dignity.
A collaborative divorce helps preserve a healthy and effective parenting relationship between spouses.
A collaborative divorce can minimize disruption to the children during the divorce.

The collaborative process is designed so that:

Parents can make many of their own decisions about their child(ren)’s parenting needs
Parents can tailor decisions about scheduling to best fit their situation
Parents can create customized agreements based on their needs and goals
Family and financial privacy is maximized
The entire divorce process can be handled outside of a courtroom
Communication can be improved between parents prior to divorce
Children can be nurtured during the divorce

The collaborative divorce process uses an interdisciplinary team composed of specially trained lawyers, a trained mental health professional, and a financial professional. This team of professionals focuses all of its attention on finding ways to restructure a family so that everyone involved gets their needs met to the greatest extent possible. Everything in the collaborative divorce model is done for the purpose of helping the clients find solutions to resolve their case in the way that works best for them.

I support and have participated in cases using the collaborative divorce model ever since its introduction to the Austin area over ten years ago. I am proud to be part of a process that gently supports families and children during a painful life transition. I hope that the collaborative divorce experience prevents or minimizes the psychological damage that could bring them into my therapy practice as future clients.

I believe that it is healthier to empower parents to think and behave in ways that strengthen family relationships rather than denigrate them. And to involve parents in thinking about the future of their family from a place of possibilities and sustainable solutions, allowing them to move forward independent of lawyers and courts.

While I bring my training as a psychologist and my clinical experience working with families to this process, I am not engaged as a therapist to anyone who is part of a collaborative divorce case. I do commit to do the following:

I will assist divorcing couples and their attorneys in reaching resolution as effectively and respectfully as possible.
I will help divorcing couples to establish new patterns of communication.
I will work with divorcing couples to manage the many emotions that arise.
I will help parents to remain focused on the children and to come together on their behalf as they problem solve and make rational decisions that affect each child’s future.

If you are interested in the Collaborative Divorce process, please feel free to review my Participation Agreement located under “Forms” in the menu bar. If you choose to retain my services as a member of your Collaborative Divorce professional team, you will be provided with a personalized version of this Agreement to sign.

I'm extremely pleased with the correct diagnosis (not ADHD) and treatment my child received under Dr Lyons care. Â She is now a college student and able to enjoy life without all the extra challenges she faced before treatment.
S.O. - Adolescent Therapy Patient
Debbie helped our family through a frightening, sad time with her thoughtful, supportive approach to the collaborative process and amazing ability to translate our sometimes very negative comments into useful dialogue.Â Post-divorce, my children and I are doing very well and Debbie continues to be excited to hear about our welfare.Â She is a gem!
HM (Happy Mom) - Collaborative Divorce Case
At the time of my son's first visit with Dr. Lyons, he had few friends, was lacking basic conversational skills and had low self esteem.Â Dr. Lyons not only taught him the social skills to be successful in middle school and high school, Â but she gave him the skills and self confidence to be successful in life. Â It was hard work, but the benefits have been priceless.
R.W. - Adolescent Therapy Patient
During a time when my identity was wrapped solely around the needs of others, Deborah Lyons provided me tools to develop an stronger, confident and self-loving person. On the heels of an international move, she helped me navigate the complexity of my divorce and custody battle. Her expertise and emotional support provided me with an understanding of how events in my life led to an unhealthy and frustrating situation. By learning to trust my intuition I gained a sense of autonomy and empowerment I didn't realize existed before meeting her. My current success isÂ a directÂ and measurable result of therapy sessions with her.
S.N. - Adult Therapy Patient
After searching the United States for a psychologist to evaluate our deaf daughter, we travelled to Austin for Dr. Lyons to test her.Â Our daughter, in addition to being deaf has multiple disabilities, she is a real challenge.Â Dr. Lyons met that challenge, she was caring and creative in her testing. She was on the floor with our daughter because that's what it took to get the task done!Â Dr. Lyons has always been there as a support for our family.
C.E. - Deaf Child Psychological Evaluation
Dr. Lyons was an effective and compassionate therapist for my needs. She provided me with valuable insights and ongoing support to encourage my personal growth.Â Â She communicates effectively in ASL and has a deep understanding of Deaf Culture and the challenges that Deaf clients face in society.
S.J. - Deaf Therapy Patient
There is no one more significant in the village that helped us raise our four children (two boys and two girls) than Dr. Lyons. Beginning with grief counseling when our youngest was in the third grade through four varied adolescent experiences with all their twists and turns, she worked wonders through her professional blend of knowledge, patience, creativity, and nurture. She taught us that individual challenges are always family matters. And now that our kids are grown and moving on, we all believe that our family is deeply indebted to Dr. Lyons for the helping hand she repeatedly provided each and every time we needed it.

D.G. and N.G. - Family Therapy Patients
I asked my daughter what her favorite thing about going to see Dr Lyons was. Â HerÂ answer was that she got to play board games after school with her. The gameÂ collection is amazing and helped my daughter relax when she was first starting withÂ Dr. Lyons.
E.R. - Child Therapy Patient
I sought the assistance of Dr. Lyons as a college student who was struggling with the demands of a rigorous curriculum. Dr. Lyons did a thorough assessment of my attention difficulties and I was able to get a diagnosis and report that not only informed the way I navigated my studies but also could have enabled me to receive the appropriate support from my University if I chose to seek it. Throughout the process, Dr. Lyons validated my concerns about the learning process and helped me to better understand myself as a learner. Â My experience with her was invaluable and I believe strongly that the self-awareness that Dr. Lyons helps foster is a powerful tool for any student. Â Dr. Lyons is a compassionate and dedicated professional who truly has made a difference in my life.
Gratefully,
R.S. - Adult Therapy Patient
I visited Dr. Lyons for several years through middle school into highÂ school, and saw noticeable improvements in my physical health. I have notÂ had chest pains or migraines in years!
M.O.Â - Adolescent Therapy Patient
My son saw Dr. Lyons for almost 3 years between the 4th and 6th grades. Â He benefitted tremendously from her counsel during this time. Â Dr. Lyons was easy to work with and was spot on in her assessment of my son and where he was struggling. Â At the end of each session, we debriefed on, not only on how that week's session had gone, but also on how the strategies she and my son were working on were translating into his world outside of her office. Â I appreciated that she was holistic in her approach and really wanted to work with his school to ensure the techniques and strategies were utilized in that environment, as well. Â She often helped me to understand how to talk to the school to seek out the right kind of assistance from them. Â I would and have recommended her to others who are looking for Clinical Psychologists for their child.
K.G. - Child Therapy Patient

I sought the assistance of Dr. Lyons as a college student who was struggling with the demands of a rigorous curriculum. Dr. Lyons did a thorough assessment of my attention difficulties and I was able to get a diagnosis and report that not only informed the way I navigated my studies but also could have enabled me to receive the appropriate support from my University if I chose to seek it. Throughout the process, Dr. Lyons validated my concerns about the learning process and helped me to better understand myself as a learner. My experience with her was invaluable and I believe strongly that the self-awareness that Dr. Lyons helps foster is a powerful tool for any student. Dr. Lyons is a compassionate and dedicated professional who truly has made a difference in my life.
Gratefully,
R.S. - Adult Therapy Patient March 1, 2016

There is no one more significant in the village that helped us raise our four children (two boys and two girls) than Dr. Lyons. Beginning with grief counseling when our youngest was in the third grade through four varied adolescent experiences with all their twists and turns, she worked wonders through her professional blend of knowledge, patience, creativity, and nurture. She taught us that individual challenges are always family matters. And now that our kids are grown and moving on, we all believe that our family is deeply indebted to Dr. Lyons for the helping hand she repeatedly provided each and every time we needed it.
D.G. and N.G. - Family Therapy Patients March 1, 2016

I asked my daughter what her favorite thing about going to see Dr Lyons was. Her answer was that she got to play board games after school with her. The game collection is amazing and helped my daughter relax when she was first starting with Dr. Lyons.
E.R. - Child Therapy Patient March 1, 2016

I'm extremely pleased with the correct diagnosis (not ADHD) and treatment my child received under Dr Lyons care. She is now a college student and able to enjoy life without all the extra challenges she faced before treatment.
S.O. - Adolescent Therapy Patient March 1, 2016

Dr. Lyons was an effective and compassionate therapist for my needs. She provided me with valuable insights and ongoing support to encourage my personal growth. She communicates effectively in ASL and has a deep understanding of Deaf Culture and the challenges that Deaf clients face in society.

S.J. - Deaf Therapy Patient March 1, 2016

Debbie helped our family through a frightening, sad time with her thoughtful, supportive approach to the collaborative process and amazing ability to translate our sometimes very negative comments into useful dialogue. Post-divorce, my children and I are doing very well and Debbie continues to be excited to hear about our welfare. She is a gem!
HM (Happy Mom) - Collaborative Divorce Case March 1, 2016

After searching the United States for a psychologist to evaluate our deaf daughter, we travelled to Austin for Dr. Lyons to test her. Our daughter, in addition to being deaf has multiple disabilities, she is a real challenge. Dr. Lyons met that challenge, she was caring and creative in her testing. She was on the floor with our daughter because that's what it took to get the task done! Dr. Lyons has always been there as a support for our family.
C.E. - Deaf Child Psychological Evaluation March 1, 2016

My son saw Dr. Lyons for almost 3 years between the 4th and 6th grades. He benefitted tremendously from her counsel during this time. Dr. Lyons was easy to work with and was spot on in her assessment of my son and where he was struggling. At the end of each session, we debriefed on, not only on how that week's session had gone, but also on how the strategies she and my son were working on were translating into his world outside of her office. I appreciated that she was holistic in her approach and really wanted to work with his school to ensure the techniques and strategies were utilized in that environment, as well. She often helped me to understand how to talk to the school to seek out the right kind of assistance from them. I would and have recommended her to others who are looking for Clinical Psychologists for their child.
K.G. - Child Therapy Patient March 1, 2016

During a time when my identity was wrapped solely around the needs of others, Deborah Lyons provided me tools to develop an stronger, confident and self-loving person. On the heels of an international move, she helped me navigate the complexity of my divorce and custody battle. Her expertise and emotional support provided me with an understanding of how events in my life led to an unhealthy and frustrating situation. By learning to trust my intuition I gained a sense of autonomy and empowerment I didn't realize existed before meeting her. My current success is a direct and measurable result of therapy sessions with her.
S.N. - Adult Therapy Patient March 1, 2016

At the time of my son's first visit with Dr. Lyons, he had few friends, was lacking basic conversational skills and had low self esteem. Dr. Lyons not only taught him the social skills to be successful in middle school and high school, but she gave him the skills and self confidence to be successful in life. It was hard work, but the benefits have been priceless.
R.W. - Adolescent Therapy Patient March 1, 2016

I visited Dr. Lyons for several years through middle school into high school, and saw noticeable improvements in my physical health. I have not had chest pains or migraines in years!
M.O. - Adolescent Therapy Patient March 28, 2016

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