Karen Bonnell

Karen S. Bonnell, MS, has over thirty years of experience working with individuals, couples, and teams. As a divorce / co-parent coach and family mediator, Karen dedicates her work to resolving conflicts thoughtfully—one person, one parenting pair, or one family at a time. She was a board-certified, licensed clinical nurse specialist from 1982 through February 2021 when she retired her nursing license. Along with authoring well-respected books and providing coaching to parents, she regularly trains attorneys and mediators to assist parents when co-creating developmentally appropriate, child-centered parenting plans and to prepare for two-home family life. For more information on family issues that matter to parents, she writes the "Family Files" blog on her website. Karen lives in the foothills of the Cascade Range outside Seattle. She values the lessons learned in the “school of hard knocks” in her experience of creating a two-home family before divorce/co-parent coaching existed. Her two adult children are her daily inspiration for the beauty of love, forgiveness, and trust in the capacity of family-in-all-its forms. In her free time, you’ll find her exploring national parks and hiking trails with her point-and-shoot camera.