August 26 eNews The AFCC eNEWS is the monthly e-newsletter of the Association of Family and Conciliation Courts. The eNEWS provides up-to-date information for professionals including practice tips, international news, and the latest initiatives in family law and conflict resolution. Views expressed by contributors are their own and not necessarily those of AFCC or its leadership. The AFCC eNEWS is provided at no charge to you; anyone can subscribe. AFCC eNews
August 25 Ask the Experts Natalie Malovich, PhD & Samuel J. Sorensen, JD It's Just a Phone…Or Is It? Managing Technology to Reduce Conflict in Coparenting Rick is helping his five-year-old daughter get ready for school when he notices a set of small numbers written neatly on her thigh. “What’s that, honey?” he asks. She responds, “Oh, that’s Mommy’s phone number…so I can call her if I don’t feel safe.” Julie is at an appointment with the custody evaluator and hands her a stack of photos. These include a picture of several beer bottles in a trash can and a wine bottle on a pantry shelf. When the examiner turns to her with a puzzled look, Julie explains, “I think this shows you what a heavy drinker Nate is,” adding, “The girls worry a lot about this, so they take pictures to show me.” Continue Reading.
July 22 Ask the Experts Jennifer Myers Harrison, PsyD, ABPP, ATR-BC A Trauma-Informed Lens for Family Court: 10 Tips for Applying It Across Roles Families arrive in our courtrooms and offices at some of the hardest moments of their lives. Many carry histories of harm that long predate the case in front of us, and the legal process itself can stir those histories back to the surface. A trauma-informed lens helps us see this clearly. It does not ask every professional to become a therapist, and it does not ask us to set aside neutrality or critical judgment. It asks us to understand how adversity and fear shape behavior, and to do our work in a way that does not add to the harm. What follows are ten practical considerations for bringing that lens to family court, whatever role we play. Judges, evaluators, mediators, parenting coordinators, minor's counsel, attorneys, and treating clinicians each have a different vantage point, but the lens is available to all of us.
July 21 President's Message Hon. Tom Altobelli AFCC President's Message Bernard of Chartes was a 12th century French philosopher and teacher. He is credited with the metaphor that modern thinkers are but ‘dwarfs standing on the shoulders of giants’. Isaac Newton adapted this metaphor in the 17th century when he wrote in a letter: ‘if I have seen further, it is by standing on the shoulders of giants.’ This metaphor applies not just to modern thinkers, but to modern leaders. As your new President, at this very humbling highlight in my life as a family law professional, I too feel that I am standing on the shoulders of giants. I stand on the shoulders of the past presidents of this great organisation, foremost of whom is my colleague and friend, AFCC now past President, Hon. Dolores Bomrad. Her quiet wisdom, total selflessness, enormous insight and humility has steered AFCC into another successful year.
June 24 Ask the Experts Lisa Aronson Fontes, PhD Suing for Damages from Domestic Violence: Torts in Civil Courts A civil suit against a domestic abuser can provide survivors with a sense of justice and a financial cushion. There is always more to a separation or divorce case than the single overt incident that may have been “the last straw” provoking a couple to separate. People who manage to escape an abusive relationship want safety first, for themselves and their children. Next, many long for justice.