PC Nuts & Bolts II

1. PC Nuts & Bolts II Columbus AFCC September 28, 2007 Debra K. Carter, Ph.D. www.theFICP.com

2. Integrated Model of Parenting Coordination • Therapist Skills • Evaluator Skills • Mediator Skills • Educator Skills • Consultant Skills

3. Boundaries within PC Process • Establishing Boundaries • PC Role & Responsibilities • Rules of Engagement • Maintaining Boundaries • Boundary Violations

4. Cardinal Features of Parents in Hostile Custody Disputes • Pattern of defensiveness • Rigidity in thinking • Lacking in ability to empathize with others

5. Impact of Parental Conflict on Children’s Adjustment Following Divorce • Effects of exposure to Chronic Parental Conflict • Insecurity and Agitation • Shame and Guilt • Helplessness • Fear of Abuse • Less Parental Involvement • Rejection

6. Two Types of Inter-actional Impasse • Type I: • Couples maintain highly positive, idealized view of each other • Deeply enmeshed • Cycle through repeated reconciliations that dissipate into bitter disappointments • Enormously ambivalent about the separation

7. Type I Impasse - Children • The divorce is never final, and their reconciliation fantasies are continually fueled. • Often neglected by their parents because the parents are absorbed with each other. • Often the focus of the post-divorce disputes as an extension of the parents’ smoldering passions for one another.

8. Type II Inter-actional Impasse • Extremely negative, polarized view of each other for which there is no evidence in current reality. • View each other as “crazy and mentally disturbed” or as “morally reprehensible monsters.” • Resist their children’s contact with the other parent.

9. Type II Inter-actional Impasse (cont.) • They mirror each other in a victim stance, each viewing the other as the persecutor. • They avoid contact. • They refuse to communicate directly and use others as spokespersons.

10. Type II Interactional Impasse - Children • Receive overt or covert messages that the other parent is “bad, immoral, or neglectful.” • Are often prohibited from seeing the non-residential parent. • Transitions between parental homes are lonely and frightening.

11. Interventions in Type I (Ambivalent Separating) • Point out dichotomy between their views and the facts. • Communication about children without emotional re-engagement. • Re-direct any interaction that alludes to a shared private experience. • Discourage sharing of personal information. • Encourage arrangements that require minimal contact between them.

12. Interventions in Type II Impasse • Perceived experience of being suddenly and unexpectedly left. • Separation involves inordinate degrees of humiliation, anger, defeat, guilt, and fear. • Period following the actual separation is marked by desperate, unusual, and atypical behavior that seems quite irrational.

13. Referral for Adjunct Services • Psychotherapy • Anger Management • Impulse Control Intervention • Parenting Class • “Fitness” Evaluation • EMDR • Reunification Therapy • Preparation for Step-Parenting/Blending Families • Post-divorce check-ups for children

14. When & How to Refer for Support Services • Establishing a Team • Coordinating a Team • Communication between Team Members • Measuring Effectiveness

15. Thorny Ethical Issues • Dual Roles • Appearance of Bias • Mandatory Reporting • Duty to Warn • Privacy • Practicing Outside Area of Expertise • Financial Arrangements

16. Special Circumstances • ADA requirements • Accommodations for disabilities • Cultural issues • Awareness • Impact • Interventions

17. Trouble Shooting • When to Request a Case Management or Status Conference • When to Request Removal as PC • Professional Consultation with Colleagues

18. Protection for Professionals • Physical Safety • Professional Liability • Handling Threats of a Lawsuit • Handling Threats of a Professional Board Complaint • Know the Professional Standards & Guidelines for your Profession • HIPPA