- UNPACKING PARENTAL ALIENATION WITH CHILDREN IN MIND
The feelings of children needing to split their loyalties with their parents may begin during the parents’ relationship or marriage. - SHOULD YOU TAKE YOUR CO-PARENT CONFLICT TO COURT? MAYBE NOT.
Family courts are designed to settle legal matters concerning families when the families can’t settle them on their own. Settling … Read more - Are Co-Parents Teaching Resilience?
As more and more children experience high-conflict co-parenting, they not only get caught in the middle of conflict, but also … Read more - WHAT MAKES LIFE IMPOSSIBLE FOR A CHILD OF DIVORCE?
PARENT SAYS: Your mom is a liar. That is not what happened! CHILD THINKS: If mom is a liar, then … Read more - Let Them Be Orange!
Kids who live with high-conflict co-parents often report feeling what we call the “chameleon effect,” requiring them to take on … Read more - WHY ASKING WHY IS UNPRODUCTIVE
Loss like death, divorce, estrangement, etc. can be traumatic when there is no clear reason why. Especially in a difficult … Read more - FIVE WAYS TO KEEP YOUR CHILDREN OUT OF THE MIDDLE
If you and your co-parent are high conflict, I guarantee your children know it and suffer for it. You cannot … Read more - Learning the Long Game
Parenting is hard. Co-parenting is harder. Either way, it’s not about absolutes and is definitely not black and white. It’s … Read more - When You Have to Go to Court
Most professionals like me try to do everything possible to help clients stay out of litigation, which tends to harm … Read more - Children Need Your Character, Not Your Image
In all of my years as a therapist, co-parent specialist, and mediator, the most heart breaking moments for me have … Read more - Narcissists in the Courtroom
Listen to this episode of Co-Parent Dilemmas as Judge Warren Davis shares his insights about dealing with difficult co-parents in … Read more - Co-Parent Dilemmas PodcastI am pleased to announce that in addition to my monthly written blog post (that I have been doing for … Read more
- THE MAGIC OF SUMMERTIME
Summer is here. I would like to challenge all co-parents this year to develop a new way of thinking about … Read more - The Tit for Tat Trap
For some reason, I have had many parents express lately that they are frustrated with how much their co-parent refuses … Read more - FIVE CHARACTERISTICS OF A “GOOD CO-PARENT”The meaning of word “co-parent” is elusive enough, but when you qualify it with “good,” it’s nearly undefinable. I liken … Read more
- THE POWER OF PREDICTABILITY
I am busier now than ever before with new clients seeking help with anxiety issues due to unpredictability. But there … Read more - Three Invaluable Co-Parent Phrases
One of the most common mistakes co-parents in conflict make is using their communication with one another to document and … Read more - DISTORTED THINKING DURING COVID
Now, more than ever in our history, there is a great need for everyone to view circumstances through a complex … Read more - Why can’t he just be normal?
I recently had a mom walk into my office and she plopped down on my couch and began sobbing. When … Read more - Co-Parent Tip of the Month: Kids Want to Matter
I witnessed an amazing transformation recently in my practice that made me think how simply kids see their parents. I … Read more - Parenting Plan Compliance During the COVID-19 Crisis
I’ve been getting a lot of calls and emails about how co-parents should react to the COVID-19 crisis and how … Read more - A COVID-19 Message to All Co-Parents
It seems important to talk about the crisis we’re in and how co-parents can approach it with kindness and care. … Read more - Co-Parent Tip of the Month: Ten Rules
This month, I want to share the rules of co-parent communication that we teach twice a month in our Advanced … Read more - Nana: I Was Just Trying to Help
(To protect confidentiality, names and details have been modified.) I first met Becky, a 62-year-old grandmother, after spending a few … Read more - Jasmine: Daddy’s Little Girl
(To protect confidentiality, names and details have been modified) Jasmine’s mom and step-dad came to see me after attending our … Read more - Daniel: But I Hate Cucumbers!
(To protect confidentiality, names and details have been modified) When I met Daniel, he was 11-years-old and somewhat frail and … Read more - John & Charlotte: Why Can’t We Just Be Friends?
John and Charlotte came to see me voluntarily because they both realized that their conflict was out of control and … Read more - Olivia’s Story: You Had Me at Hello
(To protect confidentiality, names and details have been modified) She was conceived on a one-night-stand and her parents never married … Read more - Secret Sauce for the 20 Percent
High-conflict co-parents are defined as those who cannot fit into the roughly 30 percent who are cooperative (flexible with ease … Read more - Give Something for Nothing!
It takes donations to provide sliding scale services to our/your clients. Here are two ways to give to us without spending … Read more - Let’s Just Call a Therapist
“…of course the therapist would have to say something to the court…wouldn’t she?” - 18 is the New 15
Teens are not equipped to handle too much responsibility. Recent research is telling us that 18 is the new 15, … Read more - Asking the Right Questions
One of the biggest parenting mistakes you can make is in how you respond to your child’s questions or statements … Read more - Modeling Resilience
Resilience is a dying word in our society, in my opinion. It’s the capacity to recover quickly from difficult circumstances … Read more - Giving Teens a Choice
We all recognize that teenagers have lives outside of their parents – lives they would much rather cultivate than their … Read more - The Truth about Parental AlienationThe phrase parental alienation has become somewhat ubiquitous in custody cases these days, reminiscent of the path ADHD and bipolar … Read more
