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HomeThe Second Saturday Divorce Workshop StoryOur Presenters

Our Presenters

Our presenters are available to provide you with expert advice to guide you and your family through this confusing transition. Each presenter brings extensive professional experience assisting with the financial, legal and emotional challenges of the separation and divorce process.

Financial Planning

Robert T. Watral, CFP®, CMFC®, CDFA™, APMA®

Certified Financial Planner™ practitioner
Certified Divorce Financial Analyst™
(919) 539-5468

Robert Watral (Bob) is a Certified Financial Planner™ practitioner and Certified Divorce Financial Analyst™. He brings specialized expertise that will help you to rebuild your financial foundation after divorce.  He will also be your seminar facilitator.  Click here to read more about Bob’s inspiration for bringing this workshop to the Triangle.

 

Jessica M. Garcia, MBA, CDFA™

Jessica M. Garcia Second Saturday

Our presenter, ​​​​​​​Jessica M Garcia has spent over 20 years in financial services. Half of those years were dedicated to helping clients preserve, grow, and pass on their wealth. During this time, Jessica noticed frequent opportunities to help women better understand their financial picture.

She started Brainstormingwomen, to put her experience, education, skills, and aspirations to work. Jessica is helping clients create a more active relationship with their finances. Through that work she further saw opportunity to help individuals going through divorce and completed training and testing to become a CDFA.​​​​ Read More.


Family Law

Our family law attorneys will help you understand the legal processes of divorce, separation, asset division, child custody and other important considerations.


 

Mary Gurganus

MaryG
Our presenter, Mary Gurganus,  focuses her practice on litigation. Mary graduated with honors from North Carolina Central School of Law. During law school, she was the president of the law school’s Innocence Project, which investigates claims of innocence by inmates whose innocence may be proven using new technologies, such as DNA. Mary was also a member of the North Carolina Central Law Journal and Parliamentarian and National Delegate for the Phi Alpha Delta Law Fraternity. Mary completed her undergraduate degree at Loyola University in Baltimore, MD (Go Greyhounds!), where she majored in Business Management and Law. She is married and has three children.

As a teenager, I witnessed the unraveling of my family that ended in divorce.  What got played out is one party was disadvantage by underestimating what the other party would do to keep all of what two people created. Read more.


 

Divorce Counselors/Specialists

Our divorce counselor presenters will share with you some important strategies for gaining mastery of the emotions that arise during the separation and divorce process and for years afterward. You will learn techniques for building a healthy and positive family environment after divorce.


Donna Moore, LCSW, Healthy Divorce Recovery

Donna MooreOur presenter, Donna Moore, understands Separation and Divorce is difficult for everyone. It is a time of great transition in all dimensions of your life. You may feel isolated and without support. The bright side of divorce is that you can seize the opportunity to make your new life a success. Divorce recovery involves healthy grieving and embracing change. Therapy can help identify new goals, work through obstacles, and move you in the right direction. You can choose to receive the support you need and create the life you want through individual, family, or group therapy. Therapy services are available for both adults and children.  Read more.


 

Tina Lepage, Psy.D. Lepage Associates Psychological & Psychiatric Services

Tina LepageFrom the very beginning of her career with a B.S. in Child Development & Family Relationships, Dr. Lepage has been focusing on families, and she has extensive experience working with individuals, couples, parents, and children going through separation and divorce. Our presenter, Dr. Lepage, completed both her master’s thesis and doctoral dissertation in Clinical Psychology in the area of developing parenting plans. She is an expert in cooperative co-parenting and parallel parenting. Her combined experience in divorce transitions, child development, parenting plans, and conflict resolution make her highly sought out by people going through separation. She is skilled at helping within the traditional divorce model that most use, and is an advocate for the non-adversarial model of collaborative divorce.  Read more.


Kristen C. Wynns, Ph.D., Wynns Family Psychology

Kristen WynnsOur presenter, Kristen Wynns, has expertise & special interests include children and teens, parenting and co-parenting, high-conflict separation and divorce, custody, forensic evaluations, family therapy, married and unmarried couples therapy, ADHD, anxiety, Autism, Asperger’s Syndrome, Academically Gifted Testing, Child IQ Testing, Educational Testing, Early Kindergarten Entry Testing, Learning Disabilities Testing, behavior problems, anger management, friendships, reunification therapy. Read more.


Lindsey Ohler, PSY.D., Lepage Associates Psychological & Psychiatric Services

Dr. Lindsey Ohler has a doctoral degree in Clinical Psychology from Xavier University in Cincinnati, OH. She has worked with children, adolescents, young adults and adults. As one of our chosen presenters, Dr. Ohler has practiced in a variety of settings including private practice, businesses and community mental health centers. Additionally, she has practiced in the juvenile court system, college counseling centers, inpatient and outpatient facilities, and a clinical research lab investigating the neurocircuitry of eating disorders.

Intervention Style: Dr. Ohler has an integrative style to therapy and individualizes treatment to meet each client’s unique experience. She utilizes a client-centered approach while incorporating Behavioral, Cognitive Behavioral, Dialectical Behavioral, and Mindfulness-Based therapies.  Read more.


Lori C. Thomas

Lori C. Thomas, J.D., Ph.D. and Second Saturday Wake County Divorce Workshop presenter holds a doctorate in Clinical Psychology. She specializes in providing individual child psychotherapy services, child assessment services, child custody services and group therapy for kids, tweens, teens, young adults, and their families.

Dr. Thomas works with parents who have made the difficult decision to separate or divorce. As a family psychologist and mental health expert, her focus is on what is best for the children involved. Dr. Thomas provides custody consultations, Custody Evaluations, custody mediation, forensic services, collaborative coparenting services, parenting plans, supervised visitation recommendations, court testimony, Reunification Therapy, and other divorce and separation services. Dr. Thomas has specialized training as a divorce and custody mediator. She has been a court-referred mediator and provided private divorce and custody mediation services through a large group practice. This includes mediating custody & support and providing couples with written memorandums of understanding (which can be used as a guide for working with an attorney to create a divorce agreement). Read more.


Michael Garner, LMFT, LPC

Mr. Garner is a Licensed Professional Counselor (LPC), Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist (LMFT) and a Distance Credentialed Counselor (DCC). Michael earned his Master of Arts in Professional Counseling from Liberty University and his Bachelor’s degree from Southeastern University.

Mr. Garner is an ideal presenter who specializes in marriage and family therapy. This includes helping couples and individuals navigate relationships, parenting, blended family, communication and high conflict. He has extensive experience working with adolescent and parenting issues. His background includes nearly 15 years working with adolescents and their parents in several community organizations, which has provided him a great understanding of family, marriage, and parenting dynamics. Read more.


Lauren Bowman, LPCA

Our presenter, Lauren Bowman, LPCA, holds a Master’s degree in Marriage and Family Therapy. She specializes in providing couples, family, child, adult therapy services and social skills groups for kids, teens, and young adults.

Lauren incorporates a variety of therapeutic philosophies into her services (including family systems therapy, Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, Bowenian therapy, Solution Focused therapy, and more). She approaches therapy from a hope-focused perspective, incorporating an individualized approach to the therapeutic process.

Lauren also leads social skills groups and a week-long social skills day camp for children, teens, and young adults. Lauren graduated from Liberty University with a Master’s degree in Marriage and Family Therapy. She has a passion for healthy relationships, inside and outside the home.

Read more


Erin Ballard, LMFT, BC-TMH

Ms. Ballard is a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist who is board certified to provide telemental health services throughout NC. Erin specializes in providing couples therapy. She works with couples in all stages of their relationship, including those contemplating or deciding to divorce. Erin supports the collaborative divorce model. Her primary focus is on helping couples make the best transition individually and for their children. This often involves creating an amicable business-type relationship. This means the family can still thrive despite the marriage ending. As one of our presenters, she also provides individual counseling. This strengthens the ability to adjust to the changes divorce brings. Erin is the practice owner at Family Solutions and Wellness Center. She  and her team of therapists work collaboratively to support individuals, couples, and children facing struggles related to parenting, separation/divorce, blended families, and high conflict.

Read more


Second Saturday Wake County
Helping families in Raleigh, Cary, Apex, Wake Forest, RTP, and throughout the Triangle area, navigate the separation and divorce process with positive outcomes.

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Location

All workshops are currently being held online. Please check here for details

Workshop Dates

Click to see Dates

Workshop Details

When:
The Second Saturday of each month

Registration:
Online

Workshop:
9:00 a.m.–12:00 p.m.

Cost:
No cost for online Workshop

Workshop Agenda

9:00-10:00 – Emotional Issues
Presented by a family therapist

10:00-11:00 – Financial Issues
Presented by a financial advisor

  • Preparing for separation and divorce
  • Dividing property
  • The tax consequence of divorce


11:00-12:00 –
Legal Issues
Presented by a divorce attorney

  • The divorce process and legal fees
  • Protecting yourself legally and financially
  • Child custody; child and spousal support

Beth H.

Great class – Thanks!

Nicole J.

Wow! All three of the presenters were very helpful.

Claudette W.

I may come back to hear it all again.

Jessica C.

The workshop gave me tools and resources to help me with my decision. Advertise more! This was a great workshop.

Audrey C.

The information provided will help me take control of my situation.

Pauline P.

Advertise more to get the word out.

Linda O.

All of the information was good. Great tips!

Roy C.

I thought the morning was well designed. All the presenters were very good.

Hilary R.

The workshop is an excellent resource.

Michelle D.

I got many of my questions answered.

Ruth M.

I got the information I needed to make a decision.

I am a planner by nature. I want to learn how to prepare for separation.

My husband abuses alcohol and I want sole custody of our twins. I also want to keep the house.

Will I have to pay him alimony? He has the ability to work (has an advanced degree) but he has not done so for several years.

I wish the session was longer. There is so much to know.

If only you would offer a follow-up class.

I wish I had attended several years ago.

T. S.

This workshop was priceless. I’m so grateful for all of you who volunteered your valuable personal time. You need to advertise more so people can take advantage of this valuable resource.

Lynn R.

Excellent information.

Jamie D.

The information provided was good, and there was plenty of time for questions.

Denise C.

It surpassed my expectations. Everything was pertinent and useful.

Louise A.

Excellent information and presentation. It was all very helpful.

Mary R.

All of it was beneficial.

Erin R.

I found the whole workshop very helpful and I am very glad that I attended it and I am so grateful that you coordinate it as I think that it's an important service. Thank you again for your help.

Matt

A great overview of the process. Just what I needed at this time.

Melissa

My Divorce Care leader suggested that I attend. It took me 6-7 months to get here. Everyone was so kind, knowledgeable and helpful – thank you!

Melissa

Thank you so much for everything on Saturday. So much of the content was helpful and valuable, and I feel better equipped to take the next sad but necessary steps. Sorry that I was "that girl" who was weepy through most of it LOL - but many of the things you said encouraged me to "buck up"...I loved the tape measure illustration you used, for example. I appreciate so much the time and resources that you volunteer to help people get through this difficult time. Warm Regards, Melissa

Barbara

Bob, I have referred a number of women to the workshop. I have been in practice nearly 40 years. It is a wonderful thing that you are doing. All of them tell me how much they appreciate the work you and your fellow volunteers are doing. So many women find themselves in such a difficult spot after saying, "Yes, dear" for 30 or 40 years. Please mail me a supply of brochures so that I can hand them out to clients. The fact that you sent me a thank you note for referring somebody to you was wonderful.

Jane T.

Thanks so much for an outstanding workshop. So much helpful info in one place! I really appreciated the overview from different perspectives; the handouts give us a lot to think about. Thank you for offering this valuable program. Will be spreading the word with clients, professionals, and contacts who could benefit. Thanks again!

Jane T.

Pam K.

Gave me info about separation and divorce and a comfortable feeling about how this will play out

Jennifer G

The speakers were so engaging and answered all the questions I needed to have answered. The financial content was most useful!

Kayla S.

The workshop was very useful. Many of my legal and financial questions were answered.

Erin W.

The Second Saturday of Wake County presenters offered great content and were very helpful!

I can't begin to explain you how much your help meant to me that day. I thank you from bottom of my heart.  It is surprising that while staying 20+ years with a person like my husband, I am still hopeful and have faith in people because of such experiences. Thank you again, and yes I will bother you and come to you as we move forward.

Rob

"What an amazing workshop and service to the community!"

Minal

"The Second Saturday workshop was so helpful and it gave me a lot of confidence. The financial information and resources provided will be so useful."

Sandy

"I found the three main presenters all had a lot of useful information. Breaking down the basics is so helpful if someone is beginning this process - especially the options for legal issues."

Sandy

"I was given hope and direct information."

Tamara

"This information will give me what I need to make a good decision."

Elitza

"All the information was very interesting and useful."

Martha

Exceeded expectations! So very helpful and great advice!

109 North Boylan Ave * Raleigh, NC 27603 * (919) 303-2020

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Second Saturday Divorce Workshop