1. Curing Your Sleepless Nights: Practical Tips for Working with Resist/Refusal Dynamics
Do you sometimes wonder why you accept cases involving resist/refusal dynamics? Do you lie awake at night feeling defeated without a plan for working with these difficult families? This workshop will provide practical, effective strategies for client and case management, de-escalation of chaos, and managing resistance. The presenters will go beyond theories to provide practical tools and valuable resources that professionals can use effectively in these cases.
Christy Bradshaw Schmidt, MA, LPC, Coppell, TX
Susan Fletcher, PhD, Fletcher & Assoc. Psychological Services, Frisco, TX
Victoria Harvey, PhD, Frisco, TX
Lawrence Jay Braustein, JD, Braunstein & Zuckerman, White Plains, NY
2. The Making of a Persuasive Expert in Reports and Testimony
Parenting plan evaluation reports and testimony must be admissible to be considered by the court, and persuasive to be relied on by the court. Using the AFCC Guidelines for Parenting Plan Evaluations, the AFCC Guidelines for Examining Intimate Partner Violence, and the psycho-legal literature addressing reports and testimony, this workshop will provide attendees with practical suggestions on how to make reports and testimony authoritative and persuasive.
Philip M. Stahl, PhD, ABPP, San Diego, CA
Hon. Bruce G. Smith, Newcastle, NSW, Australia
3. Pros, Cons, and Ethics of Using Artificial Intelligence
Artificial intelligence (AI) technology can complement one’s knowledge and effort, which frees them to spend more of their time working with clients, negotiating divorce agreements, going to court or settling cases. However, because of the rush to use AI, sufficient time may not have been taken to understand and explore all the possibilities involved with using such technology. In this interactive session, attendees will explore the pros, cons, and ethical concerns when looking to use advanced technologies in your practice.
Steven Bradley, MBA, OurFamilyWizard, Tallahassee, FL
Hon. Maggie Trahan Simar, Saint Martinville, LA
4. Parenting and Substance Use Disorder: Reflections on Family Treatment Court
This presentation focuses on the Franklin Family Wellness Court and will cover how a drug court model works within a family court context and how the court approaches contact between a parent with substance use disorder and children. The presenters will discuss the lessons they have learned about co-parenting with substance use disorder since the treatment court began in 2016.
Hon. Kathleen A. Sandman, Greenfield, MA
Stephanie Tabashneck, PsyD, JD, Center for Law, Brain & Behavior, Boston, MA
Alexandra S. Flanders, JD, Greenfield, MA
Daniel Baldner, BS, Greenfield, MA
5. Retirement on Trial: Why Won’t Some People Retire, or Even Talk About It?
Join this workshop for the screening of the documentary, Retirement on Trial. Set in the context of a court trial and motorcycle journey, this captivating and humorous film documents one lawyer’s struggle to find guidance in preparing himself for the significant psychological life transition of retirement. The workshop will stimulus both self-reflection and public discourse on this often-feared transition and the many opportunities it presents. The 50-minute documentary is followed by a panel discussion, including AFCC members who are wrestling with retirement.
See the trailer http://www.retirementontrial.com/
Stephen Herman, LLB, Vancouver, BC, Canada
Evelyn Neaman, MA, Neaman Consulting, Vancouver, BC, Canada
Hon. Ramona A. Gonzalez, La Crosse, WI
Sherry Cassedy, JD, MA, Santa Cruz, CA
6. Impasse: Why it Happens and How to Fix It
This workshop will explore the areas in which impasse can affect a file. Presenters will examine common areas for impasse such as the marital home, pensions, parenting, and more. While exploring the areas of impasse, presenters will discuss creative and tried and true methods to move even the most stubborn client off their position and into their goals and interests.
Carrie Heinzl, CDFA, Fairmore Family Law Financial Solutions, Oshawa, ON, Canada
Russell Alexander, LLB, Collaborative Lawyers, Whitby, ON, Canada
Jonathan Paynter, RSW, Restorative Family Mediation and Counseling, Peterborough, ON Canada
7. Intimate Partner Violence: Unintended Consequences for Children
The transition from COVID isolation to life back in the community, creates the uneasy reality that the incidents of intimate partner violence (IPV) both their number and severity, spiked when everyone was behind closed doors. What are the short and long-term effects on children witnessing IPV? What can a community do to confront the problem and tamp down violence in the home, the schoolyard, and all public places? Experts involved in this cutting-edge research and promoting the establishment of No Hit Zones offer insight and solutions.
Karen A. Myatt, JD, Seaglass Law & Mediation, Gloucester, MA
Catherine Taylor, PhD, Boston College, Chestnut Hill, MA
Stacie Schrieffer LeBlanc, JD, MEd, UP for Champions, New Orleans, LA
8. The Role of In-Camera Interviews in Hague Abduction Convention Cases
Judges are increasingly interviewing children during Hague Abduction Convention proceedings in the United States, yet there remains a lack of guardrails to ensure this less formal process protects the child, the parents, and the integrity of the proceeding. Presenters will discuss situations where judges are more likely to interview children, the drawbacks that have borne out in US litigation when children are interviewed, and the potential for guidelines to assist judges in the US and abroad.
Melissa A. Kucinski, JD, MA, MK Family Law, Washington, DC
James A. Netto, The International Family Law Group, London, United Kingdom
Jonathan W. Lounsberry, JD, KD Trial Lawyers, Spartanburg, SC
Hon. Dianna J. Gould-Saltman, Los Angeles, CA
9. The Use and Misuse of Apology in the Search for Family Forgiveness
Apology and forgiveness are time and empirically based practices for healing interpersonal injury. Examining forgiveness provides an innovative approach for assessing anger, bitterness, resentment, and relationship aversion related to interpersonal injuries, and empirically based interventions for replacing hostile emotions with prosocial motivation. Apology probes the intricacies of family members mutually seeking to ease inner turmoil and identify a shared future informed by the past. The workshop provides practical suggestions for how to promote family trust when the motivation for apology and forgiveness is low.
John A. Moran, PhD, Key Biscayne, FL
Robin M. Deutsch, PhD, ABPP, Newton, MA
Leslie M. Drozd, PhD, Seattle, WA
Marsha Kline Pruett, PhD, ABPP, Smith College, Northampton, MA
10. Parenting Coordination as an Ameliorative Measure in Cross-Border Conflicts
Children and adolescents caught in cross-border custody disputes face the risk of losing contact with one parent, leading to severe consequences. This workshop aims to address the challenges families encounter in such situations and examine the merits of a modified family mediation model that includes parenting coordination, despite its jurisdictional and practical challenges. This workshop will discuss global initiatives promoting international family mediation using the Hague Conventions as a guide and explore the benefits and challenges of using parenting coordinators to ensure children’s safety and implement resolutions in cross-border custody disputes.
Debra K. Carter, PhD, The National Cooperative Parenting Center, Bradenton, FL
Connie Capdevila Brophy, PhD, Collegi Oficial de Psicologia de Catalunya, Barcelona, Spain
Wendy O. Hickey, JD, MA, Brick, Jones, McBrien & Hickey, Needham, MA
11. Screening for Intimate Partner Violence
Participants in this workshop will examine several different screening protocols: MASIC, a behaviorally specific screen designed for mediation; the Intimate Partner Violence Risk Identification Assessment tool and user guide; and the SAFeR protocol and mediation guide. Participants will discuss how the protocols can be used by family dispute resolution professionals to help their clients identify appropriate processes. The primary focus will be mediation; however, screening in processes including arbitration, early neutral evaluation, and parenting plan evaluations will be briefly discussed.
Kelly Browe Olson, JD, LLM, Univ. of Arkansas-Little Rock Bowen School of Law, Little Rock, AR
12. Litigation Abuse: Understanding Its Dimensions and Appropriate Responses
Litigation abuse is conduct that misuses the family court process and causes emotional or financial harm to the other party. It may be motivated by a desire to gain an unfair advantage or to control a former partner, or it may be a result of mental health issues. It may cause victims to agree to outcomes that impoverish them or expose them and their children to risk. Both men and women engage in litigation abuse, albeit in different circumstances. Recommendations will be provided for how professionals can identify and should respond to these cases.
Nicholas Bala, JD, LLM, Queen’s Univ., Kingston, ON, Canada
Hon. Tom Altobelli, Sydney, NSW, Australia
13. Herding Cats: Setting Goals in Resist/Refuse Cases
Families engaged in therapy and the family court system, as well as the providers who support them, must concurrently navigate a legal timeline imposed by the court and a therapeutic timeline needed for successful treatment. Presenters in this workshop will explore the benefits and logistics of employing an interdisciplinary team approach of attorneys, parenting coordinators, and clinicians to family therapy to navigate these timelines more seamlessly—which are often at odds—and support families in effective conflict resolution while at the same time, permitting each individual professional and the team itself to achieve maximum effectiveness.
Premela G. Deck, JD, PhD, SD Family Services, Inc., Canton, MA
Tony Pelusi, JD, Tony Pelusi & Associates, North Andover, MA
Marsha Kline Pruett, PhD, ABPP, Smith College, Northampton, MA
14. Shared Residence, Interparental Conflict, and the Father-Child Relationship
This workshop will investigate various aspects of shared residence research in Norway. Presenters will explore the ways in which different residence arrangements for children moderate the effect of destructive conflict on the father-child relationship in Norway, and will examine the extent to which interparental conflict changes over time in different residence arrangements, particularly in vulnerable families.
Sarah Hoegler Dennis, PhD, Univ. of Notre Dame, Notre Dame, IN
E. Mark Cummings, PhD, Univ. of Notre Dame, Notre Dame, IN
Tonje Holt, PhD, Norwegian Institute for Public Health, Oslo, Norway
Linda Larsen, PhD, Norwegian Institute for Public Health, Oslo, Norway
15. Best Practices in Online Learning: How to Design Programs for Using New Skills
Since the pandemic, online instruction has proliferated. Quickly getting instructional material out with online programs, including Zoom classes, often meant principles of instructional design were not considered. In the field of co-parenting education, online programs were developed without knowledge of effective instructional design. The consequences have been that parents were not able to retain the information soon after the classes. Since teaching skills have been identified as more important and effective than providing information, the methods used to teach skills are varied and most do not follow best instructional design practices. This workshop will evaluate commonly used online programs and rate them according to best practices.
Michael R. Eubanks, Med, Center for Divorce Education, Athens, OH
Donald A. Gordon, PhD, Center for Divorce Education, Ashland, OR
16. Working Constructively with Emotions in Family Law Negotiations
Whether a professional trying to settle a case out of court, or a participant in a judicial settlement conference, mediation, or collaborative case, intense negative emotions in family law negotiations are inescapable. This workshop will teach participants a proven and easy-to-use method for working constructively with difficult emotions. This begins with recognizing that every negotiation in family law without exception consists of two negotiations—the legal negotiation and the emotional negotiation—and then focuses on changing mindset, goals, and methods to match the different demands of each negotiation.
Stephen H. Sulmeyer, JD, PhD, JAMS, San Francisco, CA
17. The Model Standards of Practice for Family and Divorce Mediation – Revisited
It has been more than twenty years since the last revision of the Model Standards, and an AFCC and American Bar Association task force is in the process of updating them. Participants in this session will explore proposed changes, provide feedback, and have an opportunity to make suggestions for the revisions. Participants will: (1) review the Model Standards; (2) explore ways that family and divorce mediation have changed since the last revision; and (3) evaluate proposed modifications and updates to the Model Standards.
Donna Erez-Navot, JD, Reporter, Univ. of Florida Levin College of Law, Gainesville, FL
Susan E. Guthrie, JD, Chair-elect, ABA Section on Dispute Resolution, Chicago, IL
Stacy D. Heard, JD, Co-chair, The Law Office of Stacy Heard, Seattle, WA
Nancy Ver Steegh, JD, MSW, Co-chair, Mitchell Hamline School of Law, St. Paul, MN
18. What Works (and What Doesn’t) for Kids and Adults in "Blended Families"
After divorce comes recoupling, creating a fundamentally different family form that often creates challenges for all involved, including that recoupling often intensifies ex-spouse tension. Children struggling with losses, loyalty binds, and the pace of change may be unwelcoming of new stepparents. Stepparents may be pulled prematurely into discipline. Many of these issues contribute to resist/refuse difficulties. Navigating stepfamily dynamics with a first-partner family map only adds to pain, shame, and blame. This workshop will give solid evidence-based information about what works (and doesn’t) to meet blended family challenges.
Patricia L. Papernow, EdD, Hudson, MA
19. When Trauma Influences Professional Processes
Professionals working with families in conflict in legal and therapeutic matters are not immune from their own trauma histories. What professionals do with those trauma histories matters to their own lives and how they work with our conflicted family clients. Using a combination of trauma research, including the ACEs study, case examples, and discussion, this workshop will help professionals: (1) understand the impact of trauma on co-parenting, parent-child relationships, and extended family relationships; (2) learn what they may contribute to the impact of client trauma on their parenting and co-parenting; and (3) discover how trauma may impact relationships with their clients.
Joseph Noble, MA, The Bridging Center, Edina, MN
Lori L. Thibodeau, MA, The Bridging Center, Bloomington, MN
Mindy F. Mitnick, EdM, MA, Uptown Mental Health Center, Edina, MN
20. Evaluators, Guardians Ad Litem, Parenting Coordinators: Love Them or Leave Them?
Family law processes have come under enormous scrutiny in recent years. This session will examine the roles of parenting plan evaluators, guardians ad litem, and parenting coordinators in child custody cases and address several questions: Do these professionals improve outcomes for children and families? What costs are involved? Are the processes fueling the litigation fire or helping resolve issues? And what is the impact on the role of the judge and judicial fact-finding? Presenters from across disciplines will explore these provocative questions and encourage audience feedback and participation.
Richard Ducote, JD, LLM, Covington, LA
Hon. Ramona A. Gonzalez, La Crosse, WI
Arnold T. Shienvold, PhD, Riegler, Shienvold & Associates, Harrisburg, PA
Jeffrey P. Wittmann, PhD, Child Custody Forensics, Albany, NY
21. Voice of the Child: What Is It? How Is It Applied? Guidelines for Eliciting
With growing attention to the rights of the child, this workshop will explore the mechanisms of obtaining a child’s input into a parenting plan post-separation and divorce. Specific topics to be addressed include incorporating a child’s voice, how different jurisdictions consider the input of children of various ages and stages, specific techniques and considerations when soliciting children’s input, and assessing the quality of the data. Presenters will discuss the benefits and drawbacks and provide suggestions of potential means to mitigate risks.
Shely Polak, PhD, Mackenzie Clinic, Concord, ON, Canada
Shawn McCall, PsyD, JD, San Francisco, CA
Michael E. Zalev, LLB, Epstein Cole, Toronto, ON, Canada
22. Trial Consultation in Family Law: Services, Opportunities, and Ethical Perils
Trial consultants serve attorneys in their efforts to present their best case and work behind the scenes, supporting law firms by analyzing forensic reports, assisting with the development of direct and cross examinations, gathering research, and preparing witnesses. Providing such services can also present ethical peril, and there is controversy about what some consultants are willing to do. This program will examine the ethical and procedural contours of work by trial consultants.
Jeffrey P. Wittmann, PhD, Child Custody Forensics, Albany, NY
Eric Y. Drogin, JD, PhD, Harvard Medical School, Hingham, MA
23. Transgender Youth: Supporting Parents in Disputes About Their Transgender Kids
Transgender youth are under attack in statehouses, courts, and communities across the country, and many families are struggling to support their transgender children. This session will provide an overview of the national legal context in the rapidly changing area of transgender youth rights. Presenters will provide reliable information about transgender health care, as it can be challenging to glean truth from myth in today’s environment. Participants will learn insights and best practices on supporting parents in legal custody disputes involving transgender children as well as access to health care.
Patience W. Crozier, JD, GLBTQ Legal Advocates & Defenders, Boston, MA
Mason J. Dunn, JD, Massachusetts LGBT Chamber of Commerce, Tewksbury, MA
Mandy S. Coles, MD, MPH, Child and Adolescent Trans/Gender Center for Health, Boston, MA
Jessica P. Greenwald O’Brien, PhD, SD Family Services, Canton, MA
24. Culture vs. The Court: The Case for Culture as a Customary Factor to Consider
This workshop explores the case for making culture a customary factor for consideration in parenting plan evaluations. The presenter will examine the definition of culture, the role of culture in factors relevant to parenting evaluations and best interests of the child standards, parenting differences and similarities across cultures, parenting laws, ethical guidelines, examples of cultural bias in cases, and how to create a cultural profile of a family.
Chioma Ajoku, JD, PhD, ABPP, Brooklyn, NY
25. Neurodiverse Parents in Family Court: Challenges for Family Law Professionals
Neurodiversity and major mental health issues in parents pose complex challenges for family law judges, attorneys, and mental health professionals. Following an overview of the benefits of a neurodiversity framework, the presenters will examine legal approaches to representing such parents. Then, factors regarding judicial determination of time-share and decision-making responsibilities will be considered. Relevant issues for court-involved mental health professionals will also be addressed, including avoiding automatic negative presumptions about parenting ability based on a parent’s neurodiverse condition.
Daniel B. Pickar, PhD, ABPP, Santa Rosa, CA
Hon. Linda Fidnick (Ret.), Leverett, MA
Alexander D. Jones, JD, MSW, Brick, Jones, McBrien & Hickey, Needham, MA
26. Technology, Authenticity, and Evidentiary Issues in Child Custody Cases
Child custody evaluators, attorneys, and judges regularly confront issues regarding the validity and authenticity of information that is provided to them. Increasingly, this information is in the form of a text message, an email, a video, or a digital recording. But with the advancements in technology, how can anyone be sure that the evidence provided is authentic and reliable? This workshop will address how child custody evaluators, attorneys, judges, and technology experts confront the issue of authenticity by using forensic methodology.
Chris Mulchay, PhD, Asheville Testing, Asheville, NC
27. Using New Ways for Families Counseling with Parent-Child Contact Problems
This session will explain and demonstrate how the New Ways for Families Counseling method specifically addresses parent-child contact problems (resistance or refusal to see one parent) with a future focus regardless of the cause. Each parent learns skills to reduce conflict behavior, in six individual counseling sessions: managed emotions, flexible thinking, moderate behavior, and checking yourself. Then each parent teaches the children the same skills in three separate parent-child counseling sessions without the parents necessarily being together. This method is compatible with domestic violence treatment programs and alienation counseling.
Bill Eddy, MSW, JD, High Conflict Institute San Diego, CA
28. All Shook Up: Ethical Considerations in Transitions with High-Conflict Families
High-conflict families in transition present countless challenges to attorneys, mental health professionals, mediators, and the court. Chief amongst them are ethical considerations that differ by profession. This workshop will focus on different profession’s ethics codes, with a focus on the future transition of American Psychological Association to a transformational new ethics code, and how professionals can prevent themselves from being placed in ethically compromising positions. Ethical decision-making models will be applied to real-life situations, with a focus on ensuring the family’s conflict does not bleed into the professionals’ ethical obligations.
Lindsay Childress-Beatty, JD, PhD, American Psychological Association, Washington, DC
Daniel A. Bloom, JD, Bloom Lines Alexander, Atlanta, GA
Nancy A. McGarrah, PhD, Cliff Valley Psychologists, Atlanta, GA
Dawn R. Smith, JD, Evolve Family Law, Atlanta, GA
29. Gaining Control Amidst Intimate Partner Violence, High-Conflict Couples, and Addiction
This session will examine how family dispute resolution processes can benefit couples with a history of intimate partner violence (IPV), allowing each party to have power and control over the outcome of their divorce and their future, rather than placing their fate in the hands of a judge. Presenters will focus on how to navigate the challenges and tailor the team-approach for productive outcomes in high-conflict scenarios. Participants will gain insight into recognizing indicators of IPV, fostering safe communication, and prioritizing safety and empowerment.
Beth F. McCormack, JD, Beermann LLP, Chicago, IL
Jason N. Sposeep, JD, Schiller DuCanto & Fleck LLP, Chicago, IL
30. Judicial Officer’s Forum: The Voice of the Child
This session, open only to judicial officers, will provide an opportunity for participants to discuss the challenges of bringing the child’s voice into legal proceedings. The program will focus on the testimony of children, judicial interviews, reports, and other methods of integrating the child’s voice into the process. Participants will have the opportunity to share their own processes, ask questions, and address specific challenges, such as intimate partner violence and a child’s refusal to spend time with a parent.
Hon. Dolores A. Bomrad (Ret.), Hartford, WI
Hon. Kevin M. Duffan, Virginia Beach, VA
Hon. Herman G. Walker, Jr., Anchorage, AK
Kathleen McNamara, PhD, Fort Collins, CO