If you are a Therapist, Mediator, Attorney, Coach, or Counselor who wants to help heal and transform relationships, please join me.
Compassionate Mediation®
combines emotional and spiritual healing along with with legal and financial information and support.
Together we can transform the face of divorce — one heart at a time.
Compassionate Mediation® Training:
Introducing Compassionate Mediation®
Compassionate Mediation® fosters peaceful and respectful dialogue when there is conflict. It provides a safe forum for healing and personal growth — as well as financial and legal information and guidance. Individuals and couples can then create a new and better future — together or apart.
Peaceful Conflict Resolution
You’ll teach your clients a method of compassionate communication that allows for healing and mutual respect. With awareness, understanding, and willingness to listen, each party feels heard, understood, and more connected. You also learn techniques to offer that encourage exquisite SELF care.
Powerful and Healing Initial Interview
Using a unique template, you'll learn a new technique for an initial interview that helps you understand each individual and the dynamics of the relationship. You will facilitate constructive dialogue that fosters transformation. In a matter of minutes you can help your clients communicate with more respect.
Positive Relationship Transformation
This process of SELF-led empathetic communication helps heal a family for the highest good of all concerned. You educate your clients as they explore their options, collect necessary information, and learn their rights and responsibilities. You will feel confident in your ability to be of service.
Heal More Relationships
You will learn how to support your clients as they decide whether to continue with Compassionate Mediation®, agree to co-create a more Compassionate Relationship, or elect to pursue a Compassionate SELF-Led Divorce®.
Expand Your Expertise
You can be part of an evolutionary process that will inspire your clients to heal and transform their relationships from their highest and best SELF. They will explore their options, get clear on their rights and finances, and take inspired action for their future.
Earn More CEU's*
Compassionate Mediation® Training is an NBCC-Approved Continuing Education Course for therapists who will receive NBCC-approved clock hours.*Coaches and Attorneys, Continuing Education Credits will be available in the near future.
Learn Linda's Process
Linda is a therapist, mediator, attorney, author, and Chopra Certified Master Teacher of meditation, yoga and Ayurveda, Linda founded of Compassionate Communication Academy to share all that she has learned with you for your expansion and success.
With gratitude to Richard Schwartz, PhD, Founder of Internal Family Systems (IFS) — Selfleadership.org
“Divorce brings out the worst in us and often leaves lasting scars…
Linda Kroll is a master at lifting couples out of their narrow protective perspectives. They then learn the larger lessons from their relationships and proceed based on the best interests of all involved… This is relationship healing at its best.”
Client Success Stories:
“I've experienced significant improvements in all my relationships.” “I learned there could be a Compassionate Divorce.” “We’re building an entirely new marriage.” “Linda guided us mindfully through the impact of divorce.” “I came to Linda seeking mediation and came out with peace and hope.” “I am breaking free from destructive patterns.” “Linda helped me love all ‘Parts’ of my SELF!” “With Linda’s caring guidance, I moved forward with peace and strength.”
“We’re building an entirely new marriage.” “I resisted leaving for years with two young kids and limited finances, the idea of leaving felt almost as bad as staying. By the end of our first session, we were able to strip away some of the old resentments and junk to have a glimpse of the person we fell in love with all those years ago. After a few short months, we are no longer thinking of ending our marriage. Linda is helping us build an entirely new marriage. She is a Godsend and is helping me to love myself, love my husband, and love my life. What a treasure.”
“I learned there could be a Compassionate Divorce.”“I imagine that working with me and my spouse was quite challenging as we both brought a lot with us while dealing with intense life issues. Once the difficult decisions were further along, there was space to let concepts into my mind and heart of empathy and compassion. Linda always seemed to maintain an ability to stay above the fray, and she taught me how to come from my Highest Self. I feel that I understood the meaning of Highest Self immediately, yet before being introduced to that concept by Linda, I don’t think I operated from that place often enough. I am now am working toward living my best life, from my Highest Self, looking for good things for myself, my newly structured family, and for the greater good in my business and personal life. My former wife and my daughter and I have all traveled together with friendship and harmony.”
“I am breaking free from destructive patterns.” “In just one session with Linda, I gained insight into a stumbling block in my relationship that I thought was impassable. Her clarity and intelligence cut through my defenses allowing me to see the ways in which I was sabotaging myself. She is a serious and effective therapist who gave me the courage to face my painful past and the tools to break free from destructive patterns. I am very grateful for her presence in my life and awed by her extraordinary skill.”
“With Linda’s caring guidance, I moved forward with peace and strength.” “When I was first referred to Linda, I felt sad, scared, alone and extremely confused. With Linda’s caring guidance, I learned ways to cope with what was happening with my life and how to move forward with peace and strength. She showed me options I didn’t know existed. This helped me feel more in control of my actions and decisions and allowed me to be a strong role model for my children. Life is so much better. I now face each day with excitement, strength, and peace.”
Waiting for – and after “the Call”… 10/23/21 6:15 a.m Sunday
Waiting for the Call Video from August 8, 2018 Hi. I just came in from running errands I ran today with my groceries still needing to be unpacked, and with the urge to turn on my computer and talk to you.
Talk to you if you are a parent of a child who's addicted. Talk to you if you've ever had to wait for the call.
And the reason I wanted to talk to you is because I've realized that having someone understand what you're going through, and having someone to share it with, helps alleviate that tight feeling in your gut like you can't breath or the pain in your chest that says you can't take enough oxygen in, or the shoulders that are so heavy with worry, or the head that feels like it's about to explode.
I just want you to know that I see you. In my little green light in my heart, I see you. And I'm sending you hugs and I'm sending you love and I'm getting it back from you.
So my beloved 37 year old daughter texted me last night that she's drunk and alone in a hotel – and there have been many calls that I've waited for and thank God there have been many calls that have come:
calls that have gotten her to the emergency room where her blood alcohol poisoning was dangerously high. Calls that have told me the fingers that were amputated in the car accident would be not life threatening. Calls from her saying goodbye. Calls from the police or firemen that I send over saying they had her.So there's lots of calls I've waited for and there's lot of calls that have come. And I know what's it like to wait for the call.
I thought I'd reach out to you to commiserate and embrace the not knowing, because we don't.
And I have been to many years of Al-Anon and I have tried to practice what I've learned and in an effort, as I've said before to make lemonade out of the lemons that sometimes fall into our lives, sometimes I feel like part of the purpose is to either write about it or film about it so that other people who are going through what I've grown through can either articulate it or feel seen by it or in some way feel a comradery that we're not totally alone.
So if you can get yourself to a meeting and we'll remind ourselves that we're powerless. We're powerless over the choices our children make. And even though our prayer is to have them outlive us that's really in God's hands.
And that's why I do believe there is a Higher Power and I am willing – not always willing – but I am willing now to surrender, because there's nothing more I can do.
Like you, we've probably given as much as we could give and taken them to as many rehabs as we could afford and then some and loved and supported and I'm here to love and support and not judge.
But I do need to acknowledge what it's like to wait for the call, 'cause if I don't acknowledge it, this constriction in my gut will keep constricting and I'll probably go try and drown it out with chocolate or sugar.
Maybe I'll turn my computer back on and work many, many, many hours in a row so that I won't have to think or feel. But whatever I choose to do, I don't get to the feelings so, even now turning on the computer is probably an efficient way to get to the feelings, so I'm gonna put you on pause while I go get some Kleenex. I'm back, I needed Kleenex.
So like I said, talking to you is probably another way to avoid feeling, but maybe it's not. Maybe it's a way of saying that I know I'm not alone.
I know there are many of you who have been where I am now and probably are right now, waiting for the call. And maybe the lesson that I'm to learn and I want to share with you is, how do we wait for that call in a way that doesn't keep us totally constricted and terrorized and infuriated and melancholy and hopeless and overwhelmed and busy and reactive and depressed?
How do we wait for that call knowing that there is a Higher Power and it's all planned already. There's really nothing we could do except be the best of who we can be while whatever is supposed to happen is happening. So I'm trying not to think of my daughter alone in a hotel.
Maybe that's where she needs to be right now. Maybe she needs to black out the world and turn on the TV and order in pizza and booze until she can't do it anymore.
And she's done that so many times and come out of it, thank God, so many times that maybe this is just the next time. And I can't continue to get traumatized every time it happens because she's choosing what she's choosing. And I can't judge her for it because it is an addiction.
I can love my daughter and truly despise the addiction, but continue to love my daughter.
And I also want to love those parts of me that are traumatized and are terrorized and are hopeful, hopeless, positive, negative, in denial, all too real.
The polarities inside of me that ping pong my way through the waiting instead of just knowing I'm waiting. But again, aren't we all waiting? All the time? Who knows what's going to happen to any of us. Who knows what the next doctor visit is going to say.
So maybe I'm not waiting for the call, maybe I'm just living my life. And I don't have to constrict every time a text comes in or the phone rings and I don't have to hold my breath, but I can just live and know that the call will come when the call will come and it will say what it will say, and in the meantime, it is helpful for the people that do know what I'm going through to offer me a hug, or offer me a oy, which means “Oy, I can't believe what you're going through.”
But whatever I'm going through, it's nothing to what she's going through, or maybe not. Maybe she's too drunk right now to even feel anything and I'm feeling for both of us. So I do need to let go and let God. I do need to believe she is in God's hands as am I, as are you, as are your children. And whether you believe in God or not, or the universe or Higher Power – What’s ever out there – I think believing that something is out there is better than giving up hope.
‘Cause I've always said where there's life there's hope. So today I'm hopeful. I'm hopeful that I'll get a call that will let me know she's safe.
I'm hopeful that I'll get a call that'll let me know she's picking herself back up for the umpteenth time, for which I applaud her courage, her resilience, her fortitude, her desire to live a life that's sober and safe.
So, I always say I'm trying to answer the call but I'm not sure who's calling my soul or my ego, and I guess we're all waiting for calls and I wish I had something profound to end this with and I hope I get back to you with a happy result, and I hope you get back to me with a happy result.
And in the meantime just know that as I'm looking at this little green light, and looking into the eyes and the soul and the heart of you, who is in pain and in fear, and in love with our children.
And I want you to know that I see you and I love you and I'm sending you hugs and prayers to you and to our children, with hopes that, God willing, they will find their way to happiness and fulfillment and joy and love and peace and abundance and all that we wish for them.
That, God willing, they will bury us instead of the other way around.
And that together, whether it's Al-Anon meeting with our friends, with our family, with people that get us, with the groups on Facebook, that we'll find comradery and we'll find support to help us through this time, knowing that we're not alone. I believe there is a God. I'm going to let go and let God. I'm going to remind myself as Al-Anon says that I didn't cause it, I can't control it and I can't cure it.
But I can breath more often, I can put my hands on my belly where my fear resides and remind those parts of me that if I stop telling myself the same old story, with the same old fears then the possibility of living through this time becomes more peaceful. And that's the most I can hope for right now.
Well I can hope for a lot. I do hope for a lot for all of us. So, thanks for hanging in here with me. Anything you want to send to me I appreciate and just know that I'm sending you love and support and prayers and healing for our children, for our hearts. And hope that you find the support you need, whether it's your partner or your family or your friends or Al-Anon, or any 12-step group.
that our children are safe and that we can be safe whether we're waiting for the call, get the call or any other time.
So, sending you a lot of love, a lot of prayers. A lot of positive energy. Thanks for being here and witnessing and sharing. And I love you, and bye for now.
Getting the Call
I waited for many calls. And many I received….
Some of them looking for Dana, Most of them from her saying goodbye.
I made many, many calls to her to paramedics to ER’s to psych wards to doctors to therapists to police stations to fire departments to hotels and motels to friends to insurance agents to hospitals to detox to rehab to Pete and Torrie to Kimmy to Jerry to Norm to Joyce and Carol and Judy and Mo, and Lenny and Nancy and Nancy and Ellen and Jaqueline and Debbie and Mike and Pat and anyone and everyone who cared and asked and prayed and worried and commiserated and empathized….
So many calls.
And then THAT one at 4:00 p.m. on Sunday, September 12, 2021 – at Maisie's ball game – with Kimmy – that forever changed our lives.
Dana was on life support in California, after being found in a hotel and unresponsive for 30 minutes. They were not sure what damage had been done. She was alive, but non-responsive.
i got Kimmy and we went off to an open space to take the all and hold each other as we cried….
THE CALL we had all feared we’d get – we got.
And I got off the phone and went to California.
For more calls to ICU nurses doctors organ donation cremation coroner’s office family friends rabbis hotels airlines Mike and Debbie Joanie and Marty and Steve Norm
And now I’m in Israel…. thinking about the calls.
AFTER the CALL a flurry of family and friends needing to cancel phone, insurance, health club memorial and celebration cremation and Judy and Joyce and Carol calls of disappointment to Carol and Marlon Calls to see how I’m doing – Nancy, Ellen, Judy, Pat, family, No calls from others –
Less calls as time goes on.
Sigh.
No more calls to wait for. No more calls to dread.
No more calls from Dana saying how much she loves me and is sorry and appreciates me and will see me soon.
No more lies. No more running. No more..
I wish I were still waiting for the call I finally got – than adjusting to a life where I’ll never speak with her again.
I have voicemails I could listen to, and I’ll put them all on a tape – so I won’t lose them..
I always knew I’d have to rely on them someday.
I always knew that she would die before me….
We all tried so hard to avoid that reality.
She got to a point where living felt scarier than dying. How she must have suffered.
My poor baby.
At peace, I pray, at last.
Forever and ever and ever in my heart.
On speed dial every day.
God bless you always, my Beloved Cherished, Beautiful daughter.
Reviews of Linda's Book Compassionate Mediation® For Relationships at a Crossroads: Add Passion to Your Marriage or Compassion to Your Divorce
“I was at a difficult point in my marriage when I found Linda's Compassionate Mediation book.I felt stuck, anxious, powerless to fix my relationship with my husband, and unsure of who to turn to for help.
I picked up the book, and it changed my life.
Linda's story made me feel not alone in my struggle, and her description of the qualities of true Self gave me hope.She spoke to me through that book and helped me find my way back to love and happiness.It launched me on a new path of transformation, not only in my marriage, but in my parenting relationships and in my life as a whole.
Now I see that the struggle that seemed so dark at the time was only a step, and an important step, in my journey to greater happiness. I am so grateful that Linda was somehow “there” for me when I needed it most.
Thank you, Linda, for the light you bring! “(My thanks to Genevieve Pollock, https://www.facebook.com/genevieve.pollock)
This is an excellent choice if you are wondering is my relationship over or should I keep trying? As a relationship counselor I meet many couples with just this question.
This is the perfect book for those couples struggling with the question of whether to stay and work at improving their relationship or leave and close down this chapter of their life.
The insights and guidance in this book are well founded drawn from humanistic psychology practices and research as well as Linda’s personal and professional experiences and spirituality.
Because this is such a big life decision couples often worry if they have done all that they can do before leaving their relationship. Using this book as a guide you are directed to turn inward towards yourself and get to know your needs and how to have a compassionate inner dialogue first. Then you are shown how to step back to meeting your partner in ways that speak for your needs calmly with connection to your self and your partner.
From this book you will learn ways to connect with your qualities of calm compassion and be more Self-led in your choices. In this way of relating, it becomes clearer if you can re-ignite your relationship or if it would be best to move into dissolving the relationship.If you find you cannot create a new relationship with your partner ways are demonstrates to reduce your stress and make your decision from a caring compassionate place for yourself and others.She introduces some excellent strategies to ground you and instill calm and confidence as well as questions to guide you in the divorce process. With diminished stress and conflict more meaningful and compassion conversations will co create a future where you both thrive.
Linda Kroll presented professional and appropriate guidance that was very clear and compassionate in itself.
Linda has a very spiritual approach for mediating relationships. Plus she includes practical guidance for people who find themselves in specific situations in their relationships. Her sources are first rate and trending for this time. I read through it easily and quickly and recommend it highly to everyone who has ever had a bump in their relationship road, whether it be a tiny molehill or a gigantic mountain.
Pick this up if you are having marriage or relationship troubles
Linda draws on legal, psychological and spiritual sources which may be new or familiar to readers. And so, she sets the stage for her method of approaching this life crisis with respect and compassion for all involved. In the core of the book, Linda explains her steps to crafting a peaceful, constructive, and healing process of either reconciliation or divorce and how to navigate the consequences of either decision. A great book to read in tandem with “Conscious Uncoupling” by Katherine Woodward
Compassion is the key ingredient's in all relationships!
Linda Kroll gets right down to business with a guide that will inspire and encourage healing and wholeness in your marriage and yourself as a single person of divorce.
Ahhhhh ! This book is a breath of fresh air in the business of mediation and divorce. Finally something worth reading. Gave me practical tools for bringing higher consciousness, mindfulness, SELF-leadership, and loving-kindness to relationship healing.
This book is a blessing. It is a refreshing approach not only to those considering or going through divorce but to all relationships and especially the relationship you have with yourself. Thank you Linda for this beautiful gift. You are changing lives and I believe in the long run changing the worlds outlook about divorce.One person found this helpful=
Great author. She is the “Real Deal”. Very compassionate in person and in her authenticity. HIghly suggested reading for anyone facing the divorce process of working with those going through it.
Everyone can benefit from the kindness found in this book. Relationships are truly the core of life, and navigating them is one of life's biggest challenges. Linda Kroll provides a roadmap to help readers do just that. I found this book to be one of the most insightful I have ever read and highly recommend it to others. This is the best. I read this as someone who whas been affected by both Marriage and Divirce (both twice.) Wish I had read Linda's book and advice before all the grief. Linda, you're now a blessing to all us singles who want to avoid the grief of marriage/divorce. Thank you!
Linda Kroll has nailed it! She has compiled her wealth of knowledge, insight and wisdom in an easy to read volume. Those struggling with a relationship dilemma are going to find this book very, very worthwhile!
Heartfelt, wise, clear and inspiring! Linda Kroll's Compassionate Mediation will help with every relationship in your life! This book is most definitely a “must read,” it's a life-changer…
Reviews of Kindle Book: Compassionate Divorce™: Changing the Face of Divorce, One Heart at a Time
A Compassionate Divorce is possible! We don’t have to hate the person we married just because it isn’t working out for us together anymore. For our children’s sakes, and for our own, we owe it to ourselves to learn how to communicate better than we have before.
Linda Kroll shares her personal story of love and loss as well as her professional expertise as a therapist, mediator and attorney. She reminds us that we are both hurt, sad, and scared, no matter how angry, guilty, or reactive we feel.
Once we have compassion for ourselves, we can offer more compassion to our partner, and from a higher perspective, create a new beginning as a “re-structured family.” Thank you, Linda, for lighting the way for a better way to resolve conflict, and to heal wounds from the past. This should be required reading for anyone considering a divorce!
Linda Kroll is a therapist, mediator and attorney, as well as a Chopra certified master teacher of meditation, yoga and perfect health. She brings all of her skills, plus her personal story of love and divorce, to her process of Compassionate Mediation® leading to a Compassionate Divorce™. At first it doesn’t make sense, because if we could be compassionate, we could stay together. (And some people can start over with this process and stay together and create a better marriage.) But if you’re getting a divorce, or past a divorce, not sure what you want to do, read this book to remind yourself that you can have a kinder, gentler parting and make decisions from what Linda calls your highest and best SELF. This should be required reading for anyone considering a divorce!
Wow, finally a book on divorce that isn’t all about aggression and fighting. Even if you’re the only one to recognize that a better divorce is possible, you can make it happen. No need to get locked in battles or spend the rest of your lives avoiding someone who is the other parent of your children. Find a way to communicate that fosters a better connection than the one you are leaving. Do yourself a favor and read this book and heal your heart even as you divorce.
Linda Kroll has been helping individuals and couples for over 25 years. In this interactive book – with links to free gifts and free videos – she offers her perspective and guidance on creating a better way to end a marriage. I wish I could have shared her wisdom with many friends who have suffered from a typical divorce. This book makes a great gift for someone you know who is struggling with indecision, caught in a typical adversarial and costly divorce, or who is long past their divorce and wants to have a better relationship with their “ex”. It’s possible with Compassionate Mediation® and Compassionate Divorce™.
You can begin a better relationship now by following these steps:
Be Your Best SELF
I hope the story of your relationship is one that you enjoy sharing. If not, it’s time to create a new story, where you are the empowered hero, not a victim.
Often, looking at the half-full parts of your relationship will help change your vantage point and allow for more intimate connections.
When you learn how to bring your best SELF to your relationship now, you’ll see old patterns and habits change for the better.
You can understand the conflicting feelings you may sometimes have, you also can recognize how your family of origin has affected your perspective.
Communicate Compassionately
The more you reduce your stress by taking better care of yourself, the more positive energy you will have to share with others.
Set your intentions for the future you want, and then put your attention on watching the Universe support your goals.
You’ll become more receptive, when you remember what it is you truly want, know you deserve it, ask for what you need, be willing to receive, and stay grateful.
Empathy helps you communicate with “I messages” where you share your feelings (not your judgments), and relate from your heart.
Explore Your Options
When you decide what you truly want — instead of focusing on what you don’t want — you’ll be able to talk about everything.
You don’t need to feel “stuck” in a situation that you want to change.
As you become more of an empowered partner, you’ll make confident and clear decisions for future.
Understand Your Finances
As you feel more informed, you can decide how you want to proceed with current and future choices.
If you think a separation or divorce is a possibility, find a good mediator and attorney, but first go back and be your best SELF and create a compassionate relationship with your partner now.
Plan for your future.
As you bring your best SELF into a new and better compassionate relationship, miracles can happen.
Take your time to explore your options, feel your feelings, and share all that you can with your partner to improve your relationship.
Get a FREE CHAPTER of my award-winning book: Compassionate® Mediation for Relationships at a Crossroads: How to Add Passion to Your Marriage or Compassion to Your Divorce, CLICK HERE.
To order my book on Compassionate Mediation, click HERE.
To order my Kindle book on Compassionate Divorce™: Changing the Face of Divorce, One Heart at a Time,click HERE.
