An examination of the child alienation problem from the perspective of a lawyer/therapist/mediator who trains professionals on managing high-conflict disputes.

This book provides a comprehensive, in-depth analysis of the origin and the root causes of high-conflict divorce. Through rich case studies, the author points the way toward remediation and makes specific recommendations for the legal and mental health professions. Counselors, social workers, psychologists, psychiatrists, lawyers, and judges who regularly contend with high-conflict divorce will benefit from drawing from this new approach in their practice.

In Please Don’t Say You’re Sorry, marriage-loving divorce attorney, Nicole Sodoma shows up with empowering advice to help you sustain a real and happy marriage, recognize when that’s just not possible, and know what to expect and do from there. What’s more, she does it with a generous dose of humor to remind you that you can and will laugh again. When marriage-loving divorce attorney Nicole Sodoma ended her thirteen-year marriage, she found herself seated in a symphony of sympathies and quickly began to question why people say “congratulations” when we marry and “I’m sorry” when we divorce. There’s no denying that divorce sucks. You've invested years in a relationship. Then it what feels like the blink of an eye, everything has changed and you are faced with more resolution options than New Year's Eve. The journey can be wholly overwhelming, but it doesn’t have to be the worst thing that’s ever happened to you. Choice will be your ally. As the child of a blended family of divorced parents, a now "unmarried" woman, and a veteran family law attorney, Nicole Sodoma knows divorce. In Please Don't Say You're Sorry, she serves up both humorous and decidedly unfunny realities of marriage and divorce alongside empowering insights for finding your way through either. From hard truths about the unintended consequences of ending a marriage to relatable tales from divorces past, Nicole's communication style will help you feel deeply understood as you try to render those seemingly impossible decisions. Whether you are looking for advice on how to better your marriage, are considering separation, or find yourself knee-deep in divorce, this book has something for you. Today is the first day of the rest of your life, and now you’ve got a badass no-holds-barred divorce attorney by your side.

With 42% of marriages ending in divorce and many cohabiting couples separating, family therapy has become a key aspect of counselling and psychotherapy. Beginning with descriptions of contemporary pre-separation family conflict patterns, this book progresses to examine the challenges faced by families and their assisting professionals as they transition through residential separation, parental struggle, mediation assistance, family court applications, and other patterns of unending high conflict. Focusing on practitioner needs, the skills required, and a range of helpful interventions that can be used to address specific contexts, each chapter has a four-part structure that includes: - The description of a topic-related theme, its related concepts and evidence base. - The making concrete of the theme through case vignettes of family conflict and their discussion. - The naming of the challenges faced by professionals, the skill set required, and helpful interventions they might use in their responses. - Concluding exercises designed to assist students and professionals towards an increasingly reflective practice. Written by a leading expert in Family and Conflict Therapy, a growing area of academic and professional interest, Family Conflict after Separation and Divorce is the only book to combine theory, research, and practice into one accessible text that helps promote the personal and professional development of practitioners and students alike.

In recent years there has been heightened interest in the clinical and legal management of families in which children resist contact with one parent and become aligned with the other following divorce. Families affected by these dynamics require disproportionate resources and time from mental health and legal professionals, and cases require a specialized clinical approach. Traditional models of individual and family therapy are not designed to address these issues, and strategies and resources for mental health and legal professionals have been extremely limited. Overcoming Parent-Child Contact Problems describes interventions for families experiencing a high conflict divorce impasse where a child is resisting contact with a parent. It examines in detail one such intervention, the Overcoming Barriers approach, involving the entire family and combining psycho-education and clinical intervention. The book is divided into two parts: Part I presents an overview of parental alienation, including clinical approaches and a critical analysis of the many challenges associated with traditional outpatient family-based interventions. Part II presents the Overcoming Barriers approach, describing core aspects of the intervention and ways to adapt its clinical techniques to outpatient practice. Overcoming Parent-Child Contact Problems is geared toward mental health clinicians and legal professionals who work with families in high conflict and where a child resists visitation with a parent.

Interest in the problem of children who resist contact with or become alienated from a parent after separation or divorce is growing, due in part to parents' increasing frustrations with the apparent ineffectiveness of the legal system in handling these unique cases. There is a need for legal and mental health professionals to improve their understanding of, and response to, this polarizing social dynamic. Children Who Resist Post-Separation Parental Contact is a critical, empirically based review of parental alienation that integrates the best research evidence with clinical insight from interviews with leading scholars and practitioners. The authors - Fidler, Bala, and Saini - a psychologist, a lawyer and a social worker, are an multidisciplinary team who draw upon the growing body of mental health and legal literature to summarize the historical development and controversies surrounding the concept of "alienation" and explain the causes, dynamics, and differentiation of various types of parent-child relationship issues. The authors review research on prevalence, risk factors, indicators, assessment, and measurement to form a conceptual integration of multiple factors relevant to the etiology and maintenance of the problem of strained parent-child relationships. A differential approach to assessment and intervention is provided. Children's rights, the role of their wishes and preferences in legal proceedings, and the short- and long-term impact of parental alienation are also discussed. Considering legal, clinical, prevention, and intervention strategies, and concluding with recommendations for practice, research, and policy, this book is a much-needed resource for mental health professionals, judges, family lawyers, child protection workers, mediators, and others who work with families dealing with divorce, separation, and child custody issues.

A valuable parenting guide for divorced or separated couples with kids, this handbook offers tools for navigating conflicts and setting boundaries so both children and co-parents can thrive Parents need help to confidently take on the challenges of guiding children through divorce or separation and raising them skillfully in 2 homes. The authors, both trusted divorce and co-parenting coaches, provide the road map for all family members to safely navigate the difficult emotional terrain through separation/divorce and beyond. The authors offer reassuring well-tested guidance, including advice on: • The emotional impact of separation for both parents and kids • Conflict and mediation • Settling into a 2-home family • Respectful communication and decision making • Managing finances • Co-parenting at holidays and events • Introducing new adults into children’s lives With strategies to help resolve day-to-day issues, create boundaries, and establish guidelines for a wide range of families and experiences, this accessible manual is a must have for co-parents.

This highly anticipated second edition of Splitting includes new chapters on abuse, alienation, and false allegations; as well as information about the four types of domestic violence, protective orders, and child custody disputes. Are you divorcing someone who’s making the process as difficult as possible? Are they sending you nasty emails, falsifying the truth, putting your children in the middle, abusing you, or abusing the system? Are they “persuasive blamers,” manipulating and fooling court personnel to get them on their side? If so, you need this book. For more than ten years, Splitting has served as the ultimate guide for people divorcing a high conflict person, one who often has borderline or narcissistic (or even antisocial) personality disorder. Among other things, it has saved readers thousands of dollars, helped them keep custody of their children, and effectively guided them through a difficult legal and emotional process. Written by a family law attorney and therapist, and the author of Stop Walking on Eggshells, Splitting is an essential legal and psychological guide for anyone divorcing a persuasive blamer: someone who suffers from borderline personality disorder (BPD), narcissistic personality disorder (NPD), and/or antisocial personality disorder (ASPD). This second edition includes new information about antisocial personalities; expanded information about domestic violence, child abuse, alienation, and false allegations; how to approach protective orders and deal with child custody disputes; and a new chapter on how to successfully present your case to decision makers. Turn to this guide to help you: Predict what your spouse may do or say in court Take control of your case with assertiveness and strategic thinking Choose a lawyer who understands your case Learn how e-mails and social networking can be used against you If you need help navigating a high-conflict divorce from a manipulative spouse, this book includes all of the critical information you need to work through the process of divorce in an emotionally balanced, productive way.

Avoid the expense and stress of divorce court Ending a marriage is always difficult, but you don’t have to be financially or emotionally overwhelmed. Through mediation or a collaborative divorce, you can avoid huge legal bills and debilitating conflict with your ex. This book guides you through all the steps of negotiating a divorce settlement, using mediation or collaborative law. Encouraging, straightforward, and inspiring, Divorce Without Court explains mediation and collaborative divorce and shows you how to: choose the right method for your family maximize opportunities for settlement get an agreement in writing find mediators, attorneys, and advisers, and protect your children first, last, and always. Divorce Without Court provides state court websites, contact information for mediation organizations, and clear examples of what you can expect in mediation or collaborative divorce. With Downloadable forms: Get more than 20 forms, including mediation agreements, financial worksheets, and a negotiation checklist— details inside.

Protect your child from alienation and loyalty conflicts. During and after a difficult divorce, it’s easy for your relationship with your kids to become strained—especially if you are dealing with a toxic ex who bad-mouths you in front of your children, accuses you of being a bad parent, and even attempts to “replace” you with a new partner in your children’s lives. Your children may become confused, conflicted, angry, anxious, or depressed—and you may feel powerless. But there is help. In this guide, you’ll discover a positive parenting approach to dealing with a hostile ex-spouse. You'll learn the best ways to protect your children from painful loyalty conflicts, how to avoid parental alienation syndrome, and techniques for talking to your children in a way that fosters honesty and trust. Co-parenting with a toxic ex can be challenging, but with the right tools you can protect your kids and make your relationship with them stronger than ever.