About Masha Rusanov
I'm so glad you are here!
I help people see the patterns that have been running their lives.
I'm Masha. I'm a conflict and divorce coach and a trained mediator, specializing in high-conflict co-parenting. I help people with their hardest decisions and transitions: whether to stay, getting through the divorce, and how to co-parent with someone they may struggle to talk to right now.
Why I'm Here
I know what it feels like to sense that something is off that you can't pinpoint. I've been there more than once, and in more than one area of my life.
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My first marriage ended. I pivoted my career completely. Twice. I learned what it actually takes to be part of a blended family. And I worked through some hard conflicts inside my extended family. That working-through is what sent me into a master's program in conflict resolution, studying human behavior patterns and how communication breaks down. During especially turbulent times, I noticed that most of my conflicts and challenges had the same pattern, in my relationships, at work, and inside my head.
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Going through change is not easy, but it usually turns out to be worth it anyway. My first marriage evolved into one of the closest friendships I have. We both found partners who fit us better. Our kids gained siblings. My career became the work I'd been moving toward without knowing it. My life reorganized itself into something I couldn't have designed on purpose.
I ran a conflict workshop for a team at Google recently, and watching it unfold, I realized a multi-billion-dollar tech company and two parents deciding custody are the same core human drama. Everyone is trying to be heard. The fear is identical. The stakes only look different from the outside.
It's the reason I can sit in the middle of a hard conversation without flinching. I've been on both sides of one.
My Guiding Philosophy
Most conflict interventions focus on the surface: what was said, who did what, what the policy requires. My work goes one level deeper, into the assumptions, patterns, and communication defaults that created the situation in the first place.
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The framework I developed for this is the Exhale–Explore–Engage® method. A pause to get out of reactivity. A genuine look at what is true, not just what feels true in the moment. Then a deliberate choice about how to move forward from clarity rather than from fear or habit.
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In mediation, this is what turns a negotiation into a conversation. When each person can name what they need underneath the position they're defending, the agreement becomes possible.
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What I know to be true after years of this work: most people aren't confused about their situation. They're confused about themselves.
The Expertise Behind My Guidance
I've spent years studying formally what I was already living personally. And I've spent decades applying my knowledge and experience with clients.
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On paper:​​
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Trained Mediator (MediateUniversity, PESI, CSUDH)
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Certified Pre-Mediation Coach (High Conflict Institute)
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New Ways for Families® Certified Coach (High Conflict Institute)
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Conflict Influencer (High Conflict Institute)
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Certified ADR Divorce Coach (Divorce Coaching Academy)
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M.A. in Conflict Resolution, Negotiation, and Peacebuilding (CSUDH)
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Associate Certified Coach (ICF)
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Certified Lifestyle & Wellness Coach (Harvard University)
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Martha Beck Wayfinder Life Coach
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Author, Repatterned: Your Guide to Transforming Conflict with the Exhale-Explore-Engage Method