CLIENT RESOURCE
Why Cerberus Family Solutions?
There is no shortage of divorce coaches. What is rare is a practitioner who is cross-trained across the disciplines divorce actually touches — and who has navigated a high-conflict divorce firsthand.
Divorce does not happen in one lane. Legal process, financial decisions, co-parenting, communication, documentation, emotional regulation, and high-conflict dynamics overlap constantly. The value of the CFS approach is not simply that Charliana is a divorce coach. She is cross-trained across many of those disciplines — high-conflict dispute resolution, co-parenting, family-law process and documentation, legal document preparation, financial decision-making, coaching, and nervous-system regulation. That breadth helps clients connect the dots, prepare more effectively for the professionals on their team, and avoid using the wrong professional to solve the wrong problem.
You are not hiring Charliana to replace your attorney, therapist, financial professional, or mediator. You are hiring someone who understands enough of each adjoining lane to help you navigate between them intelligently.
THE STORY BEHIND CFS
Cerberus Family Solutions was not built from a textbook. It was built from years of navigating a high-conflict divorce firsthand — years of litigation, six figures in legal fees, and the kind of sustained stress that most people cannot imagine unless they have lived it.
I know what it is to sit across from an attorney and not understand what is happening — and to be paying for every minute of that confusion. I know what it is to try to parent through chaos, to hold it together professionally, and to carry the weight of it largely alone. I also know — because I have done the work — that you do not have to be consumed by it. That knowledge is not just professional. It is personal. And it is what drives every session.
CREDENTIALS & EXPERIENCE
Coaching is unregulated. Anyone can call themselves a coach. The credentials below represent a deliberate, significant investment in doing this work with integrity — across divorce coaching, high-conflict dispute resolution, co-parenting, legal document preparation, and life and health coaching — grounded in hands-on family-law experience.
CDC®
Certified Divorce Coach
CDC Certified Divorce Coach®
LDA
Registered Legal Document Assistant
San Diego County
CHM
Certified High-Conflict Mediator
High Conflict Institute
HCI
High-Conflict Legal Dispute Resolver
High Conflict Institute
CoPS®
Co-Parenting Specialist®
CoParenting Specialist
CLC
Certified Life Coach
Health Coach Institute
CHC
Certified Health Coach
Health Coach Institute
EXPERIENCE
Family-Law Paralegal
Legal process & documentation
A DIFFERENT KIND OF COACHING
High-conflict divorce doesn't just occupy your mind — it lives in your body. The sustained stress of ongoing litigation, unpredictable conflict, and emotional upheaval triggers your nervous system in ways that make clear thinking genuinely difficult.
At CFS, every coaching engagement incorporates somatic awareness and neuroscience-informed tools alongside practical strategy. We don't just talk about what to do — we work on how your body and brain are responding, and how to shift out of survival mode so you can actually use the strategies we build together.
The result: you show up differently — in negotiations, in co-parenting conversations, and at home.
01
Understand
Learn what's happening neurologically — so you stop fighting your own responses.
02
Observe
Become the witness to your own reactions — creating space between trigger and response.
03
Shift
Use somatic tools to move from survival mode into clarity — then act from that place.
WHAT SETS CFS APART
Interdisciplinary Fluency
Understands how legal process, finances, parenting, communication, documentation, and conflict dynamics intersect — and which professional each problem belongs with.
High-Conflict Specialization
Formal training through the High Conflict Institute, including High-Conflict Mediation and Legal Dispute Resolution.
Legal & Document Fluency
Family-law paralegal and Registered Legal Document Assistant experience bring familiarity with legal process, documents, terminology, and professional workflow — while coaching remains coaching, not legal advice.
Nervous-System Informed
Understand → Observe → Shift. Somatic tools and neuroscience-informed education in every session — because clarity starts in the body, not just the mind.
Lived Experience Years of high-conflict litigation and six figures in legal fees. This isn't theory — it's a path already trodden, and being walked still.
WHAT CLIENTS ARE SAYING
★★★★★
"She asked great questions to help me understand things better for myself, asking the harder questions to get through some layers that I hadn't realized were there. I genuinely enjoyed the time together!"
★★★★★
"Working with Charli has been amazing! She does such a great job of guiding conversation with gentleness, understanding and care. She's helped me find things that were deeply embedded in my programming and together we figured out small ways to make the changes. It's truly been a blessing to work with Charli."
COMMON QUESTIONS
Is coaching legitimate?
Yes — and training matters. Coaching is unregulated, meaning anyone can call themselves a coach. Charliana is cross-trained across multiple disciplines — divorce coaching, high-conflict dispute resolution, co-parenting, legal document preparation, and life and health coaching — and brings hands-on family-law paralegal experience to the work. That is a deliberate investment in doing this work properly.
How is this different from therapy?
Therapy often focuses on healing and emotional processing. Coaching focuses on navigating your present and future. A divorce coach helps you prepare for attorney meetings, organize your documentation, develop communication strategies, and make clear decisions. Many clients work with both — the two complement each other.
Can I afford coaching on top of legal fees?
Coaching can help you use expensive professional time more efficiently. When you arrive at attorney meetings organized, focused, and clear about your questions and goals, more of that time can be spent on legal analysis and strategy rather than sorting through background, communication, or decision-making issues.
Where do I start?
Every new client begins with The Call — a 90-minute, $250 working session. We look at what is happening now, where you want to get to, and what deserves your attention first. You leave with clearer priorities and concrete next steps. If ongoing coaching makes sense, we can decide what level of support fits from there.
Ready to Take the First Step?
Start with The Call.
90 minutes | $250
A focused working session to understand where things stand, identify your priorities, and determine your clearest next steps.
Book The CallSCAN TO BOOK THE CALL
Coaching services are private and do not constitute legal advice or an attorney-client relationship. Coaching communications are not protected by attorney-client privilege.
© 2026 Cerberus Family Solutions · Charliana Michaels, CDC®, LDA · Charliana@CerberusFamilySolutions.com · (623) 261-3203