If you have ever worked on a case involving a child who refuses to see a parent, you already know how quickly things can unravel — not just within the family, but among the professionals trying to help them.
Picture this: an attorney for the favored parent is convinced the other parent is dangerous and files emergency motions accordingly. A therapist working with the rejected parent shares, candidly, that they believe the child is being "brainwashed." The child's therapist, having only ever met with one parent, produces notes that read more like an advocacy document than a clinical record. Meanwhile, the family therapist — who was appointed to work with the whole system — is fielding calls from lawyers who want to know when she'll be "recommending" the child resume overnight visits. No one is collaborating. No one is certain what anyone else's role actually is. And the family, watching all of this unfold, is more entrenched than ever.
Sound familiar?
Cases involving parent-child contact problems (PCCP) — sometimes called resist-refuse dynamics — are among the most complex matters to come before family courts. These are not cases where a single explanation typically suffices. They involve an intricate interplay of child vulnerabilities, parenting behaviors, co-parenting conflict, extended family dynamics, the pressures of litigation, and yes, the influence of the professionals themselves. And yet, despite this complexity, the professionals involved often work in silos, armed with partial information and shaped by the perspective of the one client or party they know best.
The result can be something striking and somewhat uncomfortable to name: the professional system begins to mirror the family. Providers align. Narratives harden. Therapists inadvertently advocate. Attorneys pursue litigation strategies that undermine the very therapeutic process the court has ordered. And in the middle of all of it are children who need the adults around them — all of them — to get on the same page.
Parent-Child Contact Cases: A Guide to Aligning Professionals Using a Systems Perspective, written by Dr. Premela Deck and published by the Massachusetts AFCC chapter, was written to address exactly this problem. It is organized around a deceptively simple premise: that the professionals involved in these cases — attorneys for parents, attorneys for children, individual therapists for parents, therapists for children, family therapists, custody evaluators, parent coordinators, parenting time supervisors, and judges — each operate from a distinct role, a distinct advocacy stance, and a distinct set of ethical obligations. And most of us, if we are being honest, do not fully understand the roles of our colleagues on the other side of the disciplinary aisle, or even all of the roles within our own profession.
That gap in understanding is not just an inconvenience. It is a driver of conflict. When a family therapist does not understand why an attorney keeps pushing for a custody opinion, or when a parent's therapist does not realize that their unwavering alignment with their client's narrative is actively undermining the family therapy process, the system fractures. And fragmented professional systems produce fragmented outcomes for families.
What this guide offers is something the field has genuinely needed: a clear, practical, and refreshingly readable map of who does what, why they approach cases the way they do, and how each professional can contribute to — rather than complicate — the broader collaborative effort. The guide walks through each professional role in depth, offering thoughtful questions and considerations tailored to that role's unique vantage point. It closes with a vignette that illustrates, with striking clarity, the difference between a siloed adversarial approach and a coordinated one — and the vastly different outcomes each produces for the same family.
This is not a guide that assigns blame. It is one that extends curiosity and good faith to every role in the system, while being clear-eyed about the ways each of us can inadvertently become part of the problem. Whether you are a seasoned family law attorney, a new family therapist, a child custody evaluator, or a judge managing a docket full of these cases, there is something here for you.
We are pleased to share this resource with AFCC members and encourage you to read it, share it with colleagues across disciplines, and perhaps most importantly, use it as a starting point for the kinds of cross-disciplinary conversations that these families deserve.
Premela Deck, JD, PhD is a forensic social worker, family law attorney, educator, and researcher. She runs a group forensic mental health practice, SD Family Services, Inc., in Massachusetts. Along with her team, she employs several interventions for court-involved families, including parent coordination, family and individual therapy, Guardian ad Litem reports/custody evaluations, consulting, and support groups for court-involved individuals. Premela's work is informed by her experience as a litigator, researcher, and clinician. Premela serves on the board of directors for the Massachusetts Chapter of AFCC.
AFCC would like to thank the Massachusetts Chapter of AFCC for providing Parent-Child Contact Cases: A Guide to Aligning Professionals Using a Systems Perspective.