Talia Spear
C.CFM, C.FRM, CNWFF, CIMC, CCTP-II
ASDCS, ADHD-CCSP, CFTP, CAGCS, NATC
Talia is a Co-parenting Coach, Certified Comprehensive Family Mediator, Counsellor, Certified Family Relations Mediator, and Child-Inclusive Mediator who supports families in building realistic, affordable, and sustainable pathways forward; especially in moments when relationships feel stuck, fragile, or impossible. She helps reduce conflict, restore predictability for children, and create calmer co-parenting systems where communication becomes functional rather than triggering.
Talia has a reputation for being able to “hold” complex family dynamics without assigning blame, pathologizing, or taking sides.
Parents value her ability to stay calm when things feel chaotic and to help them understand why patterns keep repeating as well as how to change them.
Talia began her career more than twenty years ago in assault services. Over the decades that followed, she’s been fortunate to have led multiple local, regional, national, and international teams improving access to safety, stability, and dignity for vulnerable populations experiencing trauma, violence, poverty, crisis, homelessness, mental-health challenges, and systemic exclusion.
She brings that same commitment to families navigating separation and divorce, especially when the journey has been painful, confusing, or adversarial. Talia is known for her ability to work effectively with lawyers, mental-health providers, educators, and the court system while remaining anchored in what is genuinely best for the child.
She is frequently described as soft-spoken, measured, insightful, and exceptionally effective; someone with warmth and backbone.
Talia is a child of parents who navigated “high-conflict” co-parenting for nearly two decades. She also experienced “reunification” therapy herself as a child. These experiences shaped her belief that support works best when children and parents feel emotionally safe and respected in the process, and when steps forward are introduced at a pace that protects each person’s well-being rather than overwhelming them. She also fundamentally believes that change is possible when compassion and accountability coexist, and that children have the right to their childhood as well as to healthy relationships with safe, attuned parents.
Talia works from the assumption that every parent is more than the hardest moment in their history, and every family member deserves the chance to build healthier patterns. She practices from an omni-partial, function-forward, culturally supportive, trauma-aware, child-focused, and neurodiversity-affirming perspective.
Her goal is to create a space where each family member can be heard and where solutions feel doable, safe and sustainable. She works with both survivors of family violence as well as folks who have behaved abusively. Talia is extensively trained to work with both populations and does so because, simply, parents deserve peace, and children deserve relationships with healthy, safe and attuned parents.
Talia is known for her ability to:
hear children’s voices under conflict and insulate them from being weaponized
help parents understand nervous-system responses, attachment needs, and trauma patterns
support parents overwhelmed by their own history, stress, or emotional reactions
empower change for parents who have caused harm and genuinely want to attune to their children and change how they show up in their co-parenting dynamic
support parents who have experienced harm or abuse from a deeply trauma-aware perspective to navigate co-parenting challenges without pushing them to abandon their instincts or boundaries
create conditions for emotional safety and relational repair that allow for sustainable and meaningful healthy relationships to emerge
Her training spans a wide range of respected organizations and institutions, including Family Mediation Canada, the Association of Family and Conciliation Courts, Children Beyond Dispute, Harvard Law School, Stanford University, the Institute of Child Psychology, the Crisis and Trauma Research Institute, the High Conflict Institute, the Justice Institute of BC, the University of Toronto, the University of Salford’s MSc Psychology with a specialization in coercive control programme, and RESOLVE, among many others.
She holds many certifications and specialty training inclusive but not limited to:
Certified Comprehensive Family Mediator (C.CFM)
Certified Family Relations Mediator (C.FRM)
Certified New Ways for Families Coach (C.NWFF)
Certified Child Inclusive Mediation and Counselling Consultant (CIMC)
Certified Clinical Trauma Professional (CCTP-II)
Certified Autism Spectrum Disorder Clinical Specialist (ASDCS)
Certified Coercive Control Trauma-Informed Clinician
ADHD Certified Clinical Services Provider (ADHD-CCSP)
Dual Certified Child and Family Trauma Professional (CFTP)
Certified Advanced Grief Counselling Specialist (CAGCS)
Certified Narcissistic Abuse Treatment Clinician (NATC)
Certificate in Gender Based Violence - Centre for Research and Education on Violence Against Women & Children
Certificate in Family Mediation - Herzing College
Certificate in Child Protection Mediation - Family Mediation Canada
Certificate in Parenting Coordination - Association of Family and Conciliation Courts
Certificate in Parenting Plan Evaluations - Association of Family and Conciliation Courts
Somatic Experiencing Professional Certification - Beg I, Beg II, Beg III
In alignment with her values, she offers limited pro bono (no-cost) and sliding-scale (reduced cost) spaces for survivors of family violence, mature minor children seeking to have their voices safely heard, and individuals with annual household incomes under $60,000
If cost is a barrier and you have been accused or convicted of causing harm and genuinely want to show up differently for your children, Talia welcomes you to inquire about pro bono and sliding-scale availability as well.
memberships + affliations
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AFCC is the Association of Family and Conciliation Courts – the premier interdisciplinary and international association of professionals dedicated to the resolution of family conflict. AFCC members are the leading practitioners, researchers, teachers and policymakers in the family court arena.
Talia's fortunate to be an organizing committee (board) member of the British Columbia chapter of the Association of Family and Conciliation Courts (AFCC-BC), and Ialso was on the task force that developed the AFCC-BC Parenting Plan Guide. One project that is ongoing with AFCC-BC that Talia is particularly passionate about and leads is the heard and seen children’s voices and choices project.
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APA is the leading scientific and professional organization representing psychology in the United States, with more than 157,000 researchers, educators, clinicians, consultants, and students as its members.
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The ABA was founded in 1878 on a commitment to set the legal and ethical foundation for the American nation. Today, it exists as a membership organization and stands committed to its mission of defending liberty and pursuing justice.
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Family Mediation Canada is a national, interdisciplinary association of individuals working together to promote mediation and other forms of conflict resolution for individuals and families and to promote high-quality specialized family mediation services for the public. FMC was established in 1984 as a charitable, not-for-profit association. It is affiliated with like-minded organizations across Canada.
Talia is a Certified Comprehensive Family Mediator. She qualifies under s. 4 of the Family Law Act.
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The ADR Institute of Canada (ADRIC) is recognized as Canada’s preeminent self-regulatory professional Dispute Resolution organization.
ADRIC sets the standard for best practices for ADR (alternative dispute resolution) in Canada and provides leadership, value and support to our individual and corporate members and to our clients. We provide education and certification, promote ethical standards and professional competency, and advocate for all forms of ADR for public and private disputes.
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IACP is the International Academy of Collaborative Professionals, an international community of legal, mental health and financial professionals working in concert to create client-centered processes for resolving conflict. IACP has members in 42 states and 22 countries, on 5 continents.
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The BC Hear the Child Society is a non-profit society formed in late 2009 to support opportunities for children to share their views and be heard when their best interests are being determined in family justice decision-making.
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Since 1974, the Society has focused on providing a strong voice representing children and youth and advocating for their well-being in British Columbia. Using the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC) as a foundation, SCY has a track record of creating and delivering programs that have motivated change in legislation, policy, and practice in Canada.
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Started in 2008 and co-founded by Bill Eddy and Megan Hunter, High Conflict Institute offers skills and strategies to help resolve the most tense and difficult situations. Where other conflict resolution strategies fail, HCI provides answers.
Talia is a Certified New Ways for Families Co-parent Coach.
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Item description
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MediateBC supports the public in learning about and accessing inclusive and ethical conflict resolution services. They maintain a roster of qualified conflict resolution practitioners with diverse backgrounds, approaches, and identities and can assist in identifying and appointing appropriate mediators, med-arbitrators, and facilitators in most areas of practice.
Talia is on the associate roster for MediateBC
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American Association of Marriage and Family Therapists is the professional association for the field of marriage and family therapy. They represent the professional interests of more than 72,000 marriage and family therapists throughout the United States, Canada and abroad.
Talia is an organizing committee (board) member of the BC chapter of the Association of Family and Conciliation Courts. She contributed to the AFCC-BC Parenting Plan Guide.
She is the lead to the Trauma-Aware Services project, and the Empowering the Voices and Best Interests of Children project with AFCC-BC.
The Trauma-Aware Services Project with AFCC-BC develops trauma-informed practice training for members of the bar, members of the bench, mental health professionals and allied family services professionals with a focus on trauma-informed practice, support of families that have experienced/are experiencing family violence, the impact of attachment on family member’s engagement and behaviour in family law, amongst other topics, this project is rooted in supporting families navigating conflict through a trauma-informed lens.
The Empowering the Voices, and Best Interests of Children Project with AFCC-BC develops and presents child-centric practice training for members of the bar, members of the bench, mental health professionals and allied family services professionals. Family law professionals, family services facilitators, and allied professionals that are deeply experienced in child-centric work will provide valuable insight into possible opportunities to empower and strengthen children’s best interests, voices, and needs in family law and family services.
Participate in Talia’s research
Talia researches the experiences of neurodivergent people within the family law system. She welcomes neurodivergent parents and mature minors to connect with her to share their experiences or participate in her various ongoing projects.
She also researches the impact of coercive control on children, and welcomes parents and mature minors to connect with her to share their experiences or participate in her various ongoing projects.
*It should be made clear that Talia does not in any capacity condone or participate in the coercion of children. She fundamentally believes that healthy relationships (professional or otherwise) require consent and absence of coercive actions/techniques.