9. Physically Safe Conflict Resolution: A Bias-Resistant Approach
Physical safety is important and often overlooked by conflict resolution practitioners due to an assumption that litigants who want to resolve their issues outside of court are less likely to experience family violence. Conflict resolvers need to plan for safety, establish their boundaries and contingencies in advance, and be aware of how biases present during in-the-moment reactions may undermine practical and higher-level safety considerations. Join a panel of conflict resolution professionals to explore important guidelines for eliminating biases and promoting safety during dispute resolution processes.
Marya Cody Kolman, JD, Supreme Court of Ohio, Columbus, OH
Susan M. Yates, BS, Oak Park, IL
Stephen Kotev, MS, Silver Spring, MD
Lewis Dabney, MS, Washington, DC
10. From Emotion to Resolution: Disclosure Meetings in High-Conflict Parenting Plan Disputes
This workshop explores the role of disclosure meetings as a verbal summary of parenting plan evaluations prior to writing the full report. Learn how these meetings promote transparency, reduce emotional intensity, and support informed decision-making. The session will address best practices for presenting findings, managing reactivity, and fostering respectful dialogue. Strategies for addressing cultural considerations and promoting procedural fairness will also be discussed. Ideal for evaluators, attorneys, and professionals working with families in conflict, this workshop emphasizes practical tools for moving cases toward resolution.
Laura J. Bradford, MA, LPCC, Hamilton County Court of Domestic Relations, Cincinnati, OH
Kimberly A. Kent, MSW, LISW-S, Hamilton County Court of Domestic Relations, Cincinnati, OH
Michael A. Saini, PhD, MSW, RSW, Univ. of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada
11. Maximizing the Usefulness of Collateral Source Information
Presenters will discuss the selection of sources most likely to provide reasonably objective information. They will also highlight pre-interview procedures, with emphasis on risk management, methods for acquiring documents, and use of machine-generated documents such as those from healthcare facilities and law enforcement agencies, emails, texts, social media, audio, video, and artificial intelligence (AI). Emphasis will be placed on best practices for the collection of electronically stored information (ESI), and the ways in which ESI can be used to generate hypotheses and examine support for competing hypotheses.
Chris Mulchay, PhD, ABPP, Asheville Testing, Asheville, NC
David A. Martindale, PhD, ABPP, St. Petersburg, FL
12. Enhancing Parental Engagement in Schools: Innovative Solutions for Co-Parenting
This workshop will explore innovative solutions to enhance parental engagement in schools, focusing on the challenges faced by children splitting time between two homes. The presenter will introduce BeH2O for institutions, a framework that helps reduce conflict and improve co-parenting communication, and BeAligned, an AI-powered tool for schools and childcare providers to facilitate goal-aligned communication between parents. Attendees will gain practical insights on implementing these systems to foster collaboration, reduce tension, and support children’s emotional and academic growth in complex co-parenting environments.
Trina Nudson, JD, LBSW, The Layne Project, Inc., Olathe, KS
13. Court-Involved Therapy Guidelines Task Force Town Hall
This will be a town meeting/open forum regarding the revision and update of the AFCC Guidelines for Court- Involved Therapy. This program will include a general update as to the goals and purpose of the task force, the ethical, scientific, and legal underpinnings for the task force’s approach, and a moderated discussion of suggestions, concerns, and questions from attendees. Kathleen McNamara, PhD, Fort Collins, CO
Lyn R. Greenberg, PhD, ABPP, Los Angeles, CA
Erin Guyette, PhD, LMFT, Guyette Family Guidance, Maple Grove, MN
14. Interpreting Across Worlds: How Language Shapes Credibility in Parenting Plan Evaluations
This workshop explores how language fluency, speech patterns, and interpreter use aect credibility and fairness in parenting plan evaluations. It explores how limited English proficiency accented speech, or nonstandard English varieties (e.g., African American Vernacular English, Chicano English, Caribbean English), can lead to misjudgments about parenting capacity. The session outlines when interpreter services are ethically required and discusses how bias may persist even with trained interpreters. It explores race, class, and immigration in an intersectional discussion of linguistic privilege, oering tools for more equitable, culturally attuned, and linguistically responsive evaluations.
Chioma Ajoku, JD, PhD, ABPP, Forensic Psych Solutions, Brooklyn, NY