Complaint Review: Dr. David Hawkins Marriage Recovery Center

Our family desperately needed skilled mediation to help us navigate some challenging dynamics. We suggested mediation, and our kids insisted on meeting with Dr. Hawkins. We didn't know him, so we set up a meeting prior to the scheduled "mediation." We met with Dr. Hawkins for a couple hours, and shared our perspective/story. We asked if he would be able to effectively mediate our family's problems, to be an impartial, objective mediator. He assured us, based on his knowledge and experience, that he would be able to help us effectively navigate our dysfunctions, and get down to the core issues.

Unfortunately, the next evening, when we met as a family, it was clear from the onset that we had been set-up. There wasn't going to be any objective, impartial mediation. It was an intervention, totally focused on my wife, with all the blame & guilt directed at her.

For the next hour and 45 minutes, all fingers were pointed at my wfie. Everything wrong in our family dynamic was her fault. She needed to admit her wrongdoings, confess her sins, and plead for mercy. 

During the entire session, we were not allowed to say anything, only to affirm that the accusations against my wife were valid.

With 15 minutes left in our 2 hour session, my wife and I decided to leave. We told our kids later that we didn't leave because we were unwilling to work things out. We left because Dr. Hawkins lied to us. He deceived us. He promised us he would help to mediate the issues between our family members. But the 'agenda' of the meeting was clearly planned out before we even got there!

As a result of this "intervention," our kids decided to break off all contact from us. That was nearly 5 years ago.