Jonathan is a member of these Collaborative Practice organizations:

Collaborative Practice Durham Region, a group of Collaborative Professionals, including lawyers, family professionals and financial professionals, dedicated to providing separating couples with a positive and productive alternative to Family Court and adversarial family law. Jonathan joined the CPDR in 2018. Visit their website for more information: durhamcollaborative.com
The Collaborative Practice Institute, an organization that “facilitates the exchange of information and resources between Collaborative Professionals to assist in public awareness. Jonathan joined the CP Institute in 2019. Visit their website for more information: www.cpinstitute.ca
Peterborough Collaborative Practice, a new group of Collaborative Professionals working in the Peterborough and Northumberland areas. Jonathan is one of the founding members of the PCP group, which had its first meeting in September 2020. Visit their website for more information: https://pcpg.ca/
Ontario Association of Collaborative Professionals, an organization that shares knowledge about collaborative divorce with the public, trains and supports collaborative professionals, and to grows awareness of the benefits of the collaborative process among the public and professionals. Visit their website for more information: https://oacp.co/
International Association of Collaborative Professionals, an international group of collaborative family law professionals who promote collaborative practice globally. Visit their website for more information: https://www.collaborativepractice.com/

Jonathan Paynter graduated from McMaster University with a Bachelor of Arts (Honours) in 1997 and a Bachelor of Social Work (Summa Cum Laude) in 1999. He worked in the Child Welfare and Youth Justice systems for a few years with children and their families. He then returned to school to complete a Master of Education in Counselling Psychology from the University of Toronto (2006), while still working in the Children’s Mental Health and Education systems. He worked in the Ontario College system for a few years as a counsellor at Fleming College and then transitioned into working in the Family Court system, completing custody and access assessments, parenting capacity assessments and youth court assessments. He has also worked in private practice since 2008 and, in September 2019, opened a full-time private practice, providing psychotherapy and counselling to adults, couples and children. He has specialties in the areas of Cognitive-Behavioural Therapy and couple’s counselling. Jonathan has pursued many educational opportunities in addition to his university education, including certificates in New Ways for Families, Child Protection Mediation, Collaborative Family Law, Advanced Family Mediation, Family Arbitration, Domestic Violence Screening, Offender Relapse Prevention and Actuarial Assessment of Risk. He has done a lot of training on the subject of domestic violence and intimate partner violence and is a certified user of the Ontario Domestic Assault Risk Assessment (ODARA). He is a regular attendee at conferences and workshops to continually update his skills. Jonathan is also an instructor and family mediation coach for students in the Family Mediation Certificate Program at York University’s School of Continuing Education. For a full curriculum vitae, please email Jonathan at paynterj@hotmail.com.

Associations and professional organizations

Jonathan is an Accredited Family Mediator with the Ontario Association for Family Mediation (OAFM - www.oafm.on.ca/) and has been since 2014.

Jonathan has been a Registered Social Worker with the Ontario Association of Social Workers (OCSWSSW - www.ocswssw.org) since 1999.

Jonathan is a member of the Ontario Association of Social Workers (www.oasw.org). The OASW promotes the interests of registered social workers in Ontario and provides services, such as private practice insurance, for its members.

Jonathan is a member of the Association of Family and Conciliation Courts - Ontario Branch (www.afccnet.org). The AFCC’s description of itself is: “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.” Jonathan has attended many of the AFCC’s conferences over the past 12 years and became a proud member in 2018.