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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. The AFCC (Association of Family and Conciliation Courts) AAML (American Association of Matrimonial Lawyers) just released a statement from several of their best professionals and researchers in the field of divorce and co-parent issues. I…
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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 Issues in Co-Parenting Workshop for the Gwinnett County courts. If you don’t know about this workshop, you can access info about it HERE. Please share these with your clients and ask them to not use…
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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 Advanced Issues in Co-Parenting Workshop at the Gwinnett Courthouse. Mom said she had never heard of the workshop before until she went to see her attorney when her daughter said she might like to come…
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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, meaning that teens are maturing at a slower rate than they were decades ago. According to Dr. Daniel Siegel, “In a culture that says, ‘Okay, you’re going to go to high school, go to college,…
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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 about divorce or your co-parent. Too often, parents engage in defensive or factual answers that don’t get at what the child really cares about. Here are a few examples: “Mom said that if you…
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Modeling Resilience
Resilience is a dying word in our society, in my opinion. It’s the capacity to recover quickly from difficult circumstances or the ability of a substance to spring back into shape after being stretched. Although making accommodations for certain trauma is certainly necessary and understandable, not all difficulties or “stretching” is considered trauma. In the…
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The Truth about Parental Alienation
The phrase parental alienation has become somewhat ubiquitous in custody cases these days, reminiscent of the path ADHD and bipolar disorder took years ago when they became the disorders du jour and popularized by our culture and media. Unfortunately, when that happens, the terms become watered down and eventually dismissed as overused and exaggerated, leaving…
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Peace Requires Acceptance
I wish I had a dollar for every co-parent who has told me they “just want peace” in their co-parent relationship. If the other parent is not going to give it to you willingly, you may have to rely on acceptance in order to create it for yourself. To put it bluntly, whomever you intentionally…
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Listen to Diane Dierks on News Talk Radio 106.7
What is “healthy” co-parenting? The answer is to be realistic about whether or not you can be cooperative or should accept a parallel style (just sticking to the plan). Do whatever it takes to protect the children from conflict — THAT’S what defines healthy co-parenting… CLICK HERE TO STREAM THE SHOW!
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The Power of Plan B
Co-parent conflict is often about parents feeling frustrated by their personal differences. Chances are those existed prior to the relationship break-up, but they become more prominent as you try to navigate those differences after divorce or separation. A parent might be chronically late for parenting time transitions, or won’t let your child do normal kid…
