About the Director

Susan Pease Gadoua is the founder and Executive Director of the Transition Institute of Marin, based in San Rafael, California specializing in meeting the needs of separating and divorcing men and women.

As a Licensed Clinical Social Worker with more than twenty years of experience, Susan has an extensive professional background in dealing with inter-personal relationships and divorce. Susan 's first book, Contemplating Divorce: A Step-by-Step Guide to Deciding Whether to Stay or Go (New Harbinger Publications, Inc), came out in August 2008.

In addition to her therapeutic skills, Susan has been trained as a Divorce Coach in the Collaborative Divorce process and she is also a Certified Mediator. Together with her husband, Michael Gadoua, J.D. (also a Certified Mediator), they formed Gadoua Mediation wherein they assist in the resolution of a variety of issues such as marital dissolution, neighbor disputes and employment conflicts.

Susan has been in private practice in Marin County since 1993. Her practice consists of individual, couples and family therapy as well as the many groups she leads for divorcing people. Susan also teaches a class called a Relationship Insight Class which uses a unique curriculum, drawing primarily from Cognitive-Behavioral and Jungian Psychologies, to help participants gain insight to their thoughts and behaviors as well as change maladaptive relationship patterns.

Two websites feature Susan as a guest columnist answering divorce-related mental and emotional health questions. They are: www.modernwomansdivorceguide.com and www.divorce360.com .

Additional professional attributes Susan possesses include being a Certified Alcohol and Drug Abuse Counselor (CADC), having training as a Life Coach and being fluent in Spanish. In 1997, Susan published a therapeutic board game for adolescents called, "On the Road to Discovery." http://www.addwarehouse.com/