Training Team

Debra K. Carter, PhDDebra K. Carter, PhD, is a psychologist and parenting coordinator who has provided training across the globe.
She chaired the AFCC Task Force that developed the 2019 Guidelines for Parenting Coordination. She is the author of numerous book chapters and articles including Parenting Coordination: A Practical Guide for Family Law Professionals. She is also the Co-Founder and Training Director of the National Cooperative Parenting Center (NCPC) which offers services to the mental health and legal communities in North America and around the globe and is a former president of the AFCC Florida Chapter.

Robin M. Deutsch, PhD, ABPPRobin M. Deutsch, PhD, ABPP, is a psychologist and former AFCC President, who served on both the first AFCC task force and the APA task force that developed Guidelines for Parenting Coordination. She has provided training internationally and authored chapters and articles about parenting coordination, as well as other issues related to family conflict. She was the founder and the Director of the Center of Excellence for Children, Families and the Law at the William James College where she developed the Certificate in Child and Family Forensic Issues.
From 1990 until 2012 she was on the faculty of Harvard Medical School, most recently as an Associate Clinical Professor of Psychology.

Shely Polak, PhDShely Polak, PhD, is a registered social worker and accredited family mediator. She is the director of a private practice specializing in forensic clinical services including parenting plan evaluations, family mediation, voice of the child reports, parenting coordination, and other therapeutic services for children and families impacted by divorce in Toronto, Canada. Shely serves as adjunct faculty at the Faculty of Social Work, University of Toronto. She is a former president of the AFCC — Ontario Chapter.

Matthew J. Sullivan, PhDMatthew J. Sullivan, PhD, has been on three AFCC Parenting Coordination task forces and is an internationally recognized author and trainer in this area of practice. He co-chaired the AFCC Task Force on Guidelines for Court-Involved Therapy and served on the American Psychological Association Ethics Committee. He was awarded the 2012 Joseph Drown Award by the California Chapter of AFCC for outstanding service to children and families. He is a past-president of AFCC.