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The 3-Marriage Cycle

Sometimes the starting point for the interdisciplinary professionals within our Collaborative Divorce Group (ABD) is a struggling couple where one or both of them are ambivalent about remaining together. Other times the process begins with couples that have made the decision to move their relationships toward divorce. In either of these scenarios, we are interested to assess what marriage cycle the presenting couple is in. And how their “previous marriages” evolved. Even if they were to each other. Based on my years as a couple’s therapist and a divorce coach, in most long-term relationships, spouses generally marry each other 3 […]

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Providing Spouses with the Power to Make Healthcare Decisions

By Cozette Vergari Originally published in LOS ANGELES LAWYER / NOVEMBER 2007 THE RIGHT TO MAKE HEALTHCARE DECISIONS is a protected individual right held solely by the patient. Recently, federal law and state law expanded the scope of exclusivity of this right to the privacy realm by limiting the sharing of patient information and records. Thus a patient’s spouse, domestic partner, and other family members face increasing obstacles when they seek information from the patient’s records-even though some healthcare providers, perhaps motivated by compassion, are disregarding the legal restrictions. Nevertheless, spouses, in particular, should be very clear about their ability to make […]

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