Washington
Chapter Seminars
Washington
Chapter Seminars
Seminars and Conferences
A primary function of WA AFCC is to provide annual educational conferences and membership meetings. Networking opportunities and task force activities will be part of this process along with giving those in attendance valuable Continuing Education credits (CLE, CME hours). Additional training events will be scheduled at various locations throughout the year. Check back often for updates to the training schedule. To view details of past conferences, link here
We have just announced our Third Annual Conference
-- Pinnacles of Practice in Times of Challenge.
This conference will be held on Saturday, April 6, 2013 at the Washington Athletic Club.
Registration Information is Available at this Link, including an easy fill-in and return Registration form
For Persons Who have Registered for the Conference, it is possible to use the following link to access the handout materials. Attendees are advised to download copies in advance of the meeting. WiFi will be available at the conference and attendees will receive a thumb drive with PDF copies of handouts as part of our effort to Go Green. There will be no other handouts distributed at the conference.
PINNACLES
OF PRACTICE IN TIMES OF CHALLENGE
With the series of tragic instances of public violence in recent
months, it seems timely and important to become
better informed about ways to manage risk --
particularly when working in the contentious fields of Family Law and Child
Dependency. The Powell case last year brought this home with waves of shock and
grief for the local community. To answer those concerns and to better prepare
our service providers with up-to-date information on violence risk and
cyberstalking issues, we bring you Dr. Manny Tau, a national leader in threat
management and risk assessment who will present the Keynote Plenary session --Violence
Risk in the Post-Powell Era. You can also join Dr. Tau later in
the day for an additional break-out training session. Learn about safety
measures for conducting parenting evaluations and developing parenting plans.
The morning plenary session continues as you join a distinguished
group of family law judicial officers from King County, Mason County, and Kitsap
County in a Judicial Officer Forum to discuss key concerns and
best practice ideas with a View
from the Bench.
The afternoon provides eight
break-out meetings to choose from including sessions on:
Predatory Behaviors and
Digital Malice (Cyberstalking) with Manny Tau, Psy.D;
Voice of the Child with Lynne Smith, M.A, LMFT;
International Relocation with Leslie Shear, J.D.;
Working with Never Married
Parents with Mindy Mitnick, Ed.M.;
Reunification Interventions with Dr. Bruce Harshman;
Best Practice Standards for
GALs and Psychologists with
Dr. Melanie English, Dr. Natalie Novick Brown, David Hodges, M.A; and
Research on Child Informed
Mediation with Robin Ballard.
Training Couples in
Conflict for Co-Parenting with
Dr. Donald Gordon
Saturday April
6, 2012 Conference
Schedule and Program Description
8:30 to 12:00
Morning Plenary Sessions
Opening Greetings – Daniel
Rybicki, Psy.D, DABPS –
Chapter President
8:45 to 10:45 -- Manny
Tau, Psy.D.
Keynote/Plenary Session
Violence Risk in the Post-Powell Era
Threat assessments in the Family Law arena have become necessary
considerations in protecting clients and family law professionals from violence.
Advanced content will be presented these threat assessments ranging from a rapid
scan approach (that involves examining threat posturing, preparatory behaviors
and rehearsal fantasies) to a more comprehensive approach (that provides
behavioral trajectories to assist with threat mitigation, containment and
management strategies). There will be an additional supplemental afternoon
session that examines advanced content on predatory behaviors and digital malice
(cyberstalking).
Topic Outline:
I. Threats and Perpetrators
A.
Risk assessments in the Family Law arena
B.
Convergence of workplace, school-place and domestic violence
C.
Problematic, predatory to violent behaviors continuum & warning signs
D.
Types of threats & threat potential levels
E.
Perpetrator types
II. Threat Assessments
A.
Preliminary threat assessment – 3 components
B.
Comprehensive threat assessment – 10 components
C.
Veracity & methods of lying
D.
Integration into a 730 Child Custody Evaluation
III. Threat Management
A.
Considerations for the professional
B.
Considerations for the client
C.
When to refer to a threat assessment professional
D.
Mitigation, containment & case management
Dr.
Manny Tau is a California licensed psychologist (PSY14892) with specializations
in clinical & forensic psychology. His areas of expertise involve threat
assessments and active threat management, and have been extensively used as a
workplace/school-place/personal violence and threat management consultant
throughout the United States since 1995. He also works with many recognized
federal, state, county, city and private organizations in the development of
their violence prevention programs and the implementation of Threat Management
Teams, along with providing expert consultation/testimony for attorneys in the
labor & employment, civil and family law arenas. Dr. Tau currently serves on
the Board of Directors for the Association of Threat Assessment Professionals
– San Diego Chapter, and has served on the Board of Directors for the
California Psychological Association, the Orange County Psychological
Association
and Laura’s House Domestic Violence Shelter. An experienced and dynamic
speaker, Dr. Tau has presented nationwide on topics related to threat
assessments and targeted violence for professional organizations in the human
resources, risk management, security, legal and mental health fields, and has
appeared in newsprint, radio, television and Internet media. More information is
available at NoThreat.com.
11:00 to 12:00 -- Daniel
Rybicki, Psy.D., moderator; Judge
Doerty & Judge Rietschel (King), Judge
Laurie (Kitsap), Ret.Comm.
Adamson (Mason)
Judicial
Officer View from the Bench
Each of the judicial officers will be given a brief introductory
segment in which they can express views on key issues and current concerns
regarding family law matters. There will be shared commentary on service
delivery issues, conceptual and judicial matters before the bench, and
discussion regarding innovations and plans for the coming term.
The panel will select from among a set
of questions and provide shared discussion and audience participation.
Additional questions will be taken from the floor as part of the open Q and A at
the end of the session.
Learning
Objectives:
A)
Participants will become better acquainted with differing methods employed
across three primary Washington superior court jurisdictions for addressing
family law evaluation and intervention issues.
B)
Participants will gain knowledge about best practices for presentation of
professional findings (GAL reports, psychological parenting evaluations,
psychological assessments) in court.
C)
Participants will participate in discussion of innovations and policy changes
that can impact service delivery in the respective jurisdictions.
12:00 to 1:15
Member Meeting, Mingle and Buffet Luncheon Top of the
WAC
Tickets available for non-members to
attend, see registration form for details. Business meeting for WA AFCC Chapter,
social networking; Others, Lunch on Your Own
1:15 to 2:45
Afternoon Workshop Series
Track A --
Manny Tau, Psy.D.
Predatory Behavior and
Digital Malice
Threat Assessment of targeted violence potential also includes
examining risks for various forms of predatory behaviors such as unwanted
pursuit and digital malice. Digital malice has become a more prevalent form of
vindictive behavior using resources which are easily accessed and explained on
the Internet. These harassing and threatening behaviors involve cyber-stalking,
digital sabotage and textual harassment. They often indicate a "ramping
up" of a threat potential. Advanced content will be presented on the
resources, tools and methods used to expose and educate participants about the
warning signs of these non-proximity sensitive malicious behaviors. This session
is a supplement to the morning session.
Topic Outline:
I. Predatory Behaviors
A.
Affective aggressor to predatory aggressor continuum
B.
Unwanted pursuit – stalking
C.
A functional approach to stalking categories
II. Digital Malice
A.
Physically based threats vs. digitally based threats
B.
Hardware & software-based exploits
C.
Data crumbs & social media
D.
Digital hijacking & sabotage
E.
Textual harassment
F.
Open source data farming/scraping
G.
Controlling your data crumbs
H.
Social engineering – hacking the human
Dr.
Tau actively manages potentially violent situations with a continuum of
intervention strategies, working with Human Resources professionals, attorneys
and law enforcement agencies. He has strategic partnerships with private
security professionals to provide armed security, surveillance, executive
protection, computer forensics and countermeasure resources to minimize
vulnerabilities with a zero failure approach to active threat management. His
background includes bachelor’s degrees in Psychology and Biological Sciences,
masters and doctoral degrees in Clinical Psychology, and extensive clinical and
forensic training and services in the private and public sectors. He has over 10
years experience in the psychiatric hospital setting, and was the Clinical
Director of an inpatient psychiatric program providing comprehensive services
for psychological disorders and substance abuse.
Track B -- Lynne
Smith, MA, LMFT, LMHC
The Voice of the Child in
Family Law -- The Child Specialist
This workshop explains the role of the child specialist during
divorce and illustrates how important it is for children to have an advocate and
a voice at that time. The child specialist role is emerging as a vehicle to
protect and honor children's rights and to meet the family court's
responsibility to include their voices. Child specialists participate in
mediation and collaborative divorce, offer the child's perspective in contested
cases, and provide understanding of the children's needs as seen through the
lens of child development and family systems perspectives.
Topic
Outline:
I.
Short summary of the effects of divorce on children
a.
40
years of divorce research results – it depends
b.
Ongoing
conflict harmful to children
c.
Litigious
divorce interferes with ongoing family relationships
II.
Child Specialist (CS)
a.
Characteristics
and training needed
b.
Tasks
of the CS –
i.
Assessment
ii.
Support
the parents
iii.
Support
& advocate for children
iv.
Participate
in creating the parenting plan
c.
CS
works as part of interdisciplinary team
III.
Voice of the Child
a.
Why
bring in the child’s voice?
b.
Experiences
of hearing children
IV.
Why bring a child specialist into your case
a.
Benefits
of the child’s voice
b.
CS
in mediation
c.
CS
in collaborative divorce
LEARNING
OBJECTIVES
1.
Recognize
the child specialist’s role and the multiple areas of family law that this
role supports and benefits.
2.
Identify
how the child specialist’s role addresses and supports our understanding of
how children benefit from inclusion in divorce processes.
3.
Explain
how incorporating the children’s voice in family law supports psychological
well-being, healthy attachment, and provides intergenerational benefits for
families.
Lynne
Smith is a mental health professional with an MA degree and practices as an LMFT
and LMHC. She is pursuing a PhD in counseling and supervision through Oregon
State University. She is writing her dissertation on the role of the child
specialist in alternative dispute resolution processes. She anticipates
graduating in June of 2013. Since graduating from her master’s program in
2007, Lynne pursued dual licensure in Washington and continues to expand her
private practice work in downtown Vancouver. She does reunification cases,
divorce coaching for parents, therapeutic supervised visitations, and
court-ordered therapy for children.
Track
C -- Leslie Shear, J.D.
Moving from Kansas to Oz : Evaluating, Trying and Resolving an
International Relocation Case
Requests
to move abroad with a child are more frequent in our global society.
International moves present challenges in enforcement of orders, shifts in
modification jurisdiction, cultural and language differences, visa issues, and
distance (travel time and costs). This workshop will help lawyers, mediators,
evaluators and judges identify and resolve the special practical and legal
issues and challenges that must be addressed in settlement, trial, or appeal
when a request is made to move a child across international borders. Case
law and psychological issues will be considered along with best practice
guidelines for assisting in such cases. Additional attention will be given to
abduction risk and the emerging body of legal guidelines for addressing such
problems.
Topic Outline:
I. Introduction: What
experts might we need?
a.
Custody law and practice in destination country; b. Immigration, work permit and
visa issues; c. Life quality, safety, human rights & related issues for
children in destination country; d. Costs and practicalities of long-distance
travel contact/visitation; e. Psychological expert on impact of distance on
parent-child relationship; f. Abduction risk; g. Acquisition/preservation of
language skills and cultural links by children)
II.
Jurisdiction – Clash of the Policy Paradigms
1.
Deter forum shopping and re-litigation (USA): a. UCCJEA b. FPKPA c.
Constitutional guarantee of full faith and credit.
2.
Make decisions where the child lives: a. Hague Abduction Convention; b. Hague
Protection Convention.
3.
Other jurisdictional paradigms (cultural affiliation, household registration,
etc.)
III.
Recognition of foreign custody decrees
1.
Exercise of discretion in new forum; 2. Obtaining mirror orders
IV.
Enforcement of foreign custody decrees
1.
Continuum of enforcement; 2. Examples: U.S.A, Australia, England
V.
Modification of foreign custody decrees
1.
Will new place of residence assert modification jurisdiction? 2. What will a
custody case in the Land of Oz look like?
VI.
Abduction risk issues
1.
Abduction risk research; 2. Abduction risk prevention
VII. Impact of Hague Protection Convention on international relocation practice
LEARNING
OBJECTIVES
1.
Attendees will understand that U.S. child custody orders are not necessarily
recognized and enforced in other countries.
2.
Attendees will understand what factors should be included in a child custody
evaluation in an international relocation case.
3.
Attendees will understand the core jurisdictional paradigms of the Hague
Abduction Convention, the UCCJEA, and the Hague Protection Convention
Leslie Shear has practiced family law in California since 1976. She is certified by the State Bar of California Board of Legal Specialization as a specialist in Family Law and a Specialist in Appellate Law. Leslie is a fellow of the International Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers and the immediate past president of California’s Association of Certified Family Law Specialists. She is a frequent contributor to professional journals on issues of child custody and parentage, and a frequent lecturer to lawyers, judicial officers, mental health professionals, parent educators and parents on issues relating to child custody, parentage and family law. Her published appellate decisions include two international relocation cases.
Track D -- David Hodges, M.A., Natalie Novick-Brown, Ph.D.,
and Melanie English, Ph.D.
Seeking the Standard of Care for Custody Assessments in WA State:
An Interactive Workshop for PEs and GALs
While the legislature has codified parenting evaluation standards
for psychologists who provide such services, state regulations are silent
regarding evaluations conducted by professionals other than psychologists. There
is no state-wide standard of care for assessments by GALs and others with
respect to content, methods, and/or reference to research and professional
literature. This interactive workshop seeks to explore these issues and start
the process of developing a state-wide standard of care.
Topic Outline:
1)
Brief polling of audience
2) Review best practices and standards required
of psychologists in child custody evaluations
3)
Important sources for “evidence-based”
research
What
sources should be considered as the “standard-setters”?Do we want current
custody research (“Best practice”) to set the standard?
4)
Quality Assurance workgroup
Learning Objectives
1)
To
identify problems that arise due to the absence of state standards
2)
To
provide an overview of several existing regulations and guidelines that
currently bear on custody evaluations
3)
To
consider how research can provide guidance for both the procedures we use and
the conclusions we reach
David L. Hodges is a licensed marriage and
family therapist in Washington State. He provides parenting plan and guardian ad
litem services as well as mediation of parenting plan issues in King and
Snohomish counties. He graduated with a masters degree in psychology from
Pepperdine University in 1966. In California, after five years as a masters
level psychologist in a hospital setting and two years as a counselor in a
community counseling setting, he worked for ten years in a Family Court Services
setting providing mediation and evaluation services. Beginning in 1985 David
worked for 23 years as a social worker and as assistant manager for King County
Superior Court’s Family Court Services. In 1998 he received the Washington
State Bar Association Family Law Section Professional of the Year award. He has
been a Title 26 guardian ad litem since 2001, providing services in Snohomish
County and beginning in 2008 in King County after “retiring” from Family
Court Services. David has been actively involved over the years with the
Association of Family and Conciliation Courts as a board member, as program
chair for the 2005 international conference in Seattle, and as the manager of
the AFCC Court Services list serve from its inception in 2000 until 2008.
Dr.
Natalie Novick Brown is a licensed psychologist in Washington State and Florida
who specializes in parenting evaluation, fetal alcohol spectrum disorder, and
sex offender evaluation. Dr. Brown is founding Program Director of FASDExperts (www.FASDExperts.com),
a multidisciplinary group of
professionals that conducts forensic FASD evaluations throughout the United
States. She is a Clinical Assistant Professor in the School of Medicine,
Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, at the University of
Washington, where she consults with the Fetal Alcohol and Drug Unit on secondary
disabilities and conducts research on FASD. Dr. Brown has published numerous
articles and book chapters on FASD and conducted trainings for criminal justice
and mental health professionals nationally and internationally.
Dr. Melanie English, PhD, MSW, is a parenting
evaluator and Guardian Ad Litem in private practice where she focuses on high
conflict parenting plan evaluations in divorce, paternity, modification and
third-party custody cases. Dr.
English earned her PhD in clinical psychology from Seattle Pacific University
and her dissertation research centered on attachment issues and parental support
in parenting plans. She also has a
Master’s degree in social work and worked for King County Superior Court
Family Court Services for more than 10 years, cumulatively completing several
hundred parenting evaluations in King and Snohomish counties, as well as many
international child custody evaluations. She
additionally serves as an expert witness and post-decree case manager and has
completed adoption home studies, domestic violence assessments and risk
assessments and worked as a family and child therapist and mediator.
Dr. English has taught seminars and workshops for King County Superior
Court, Department of Judicial Administration, National Business Institute, the
Washington State Bar Association and community mental health clinics.
She is a proud member of the national and local chapter of the
Association of Family and Conciliation Courts (AFCC) and currently serves on the
practice standards committee of the Washington Chapter
3:00 to 4:30
Afternoon Workshop Series, Second Segment
Track E -- Mindy Mitnick, Ed.M, M.A.
Working with Never Married Parents
Parents who have never been married to one another are a diverse
group with unique needs. These parents may have had no actual relationship or
may have been a couple for an extended period of time. Assumptions of "what
works" in these families may rely on outdated information about custody and
parenting time arrangements, developmental needs of children and the importance
of labels such as joint or sole custody. Lawyers, mediators, evaluators and
judges need to know how to assess each case, how to help parents craft parenting
plans and engage with less adversarial interactions in the best interests of the
children. The workshop will incorporate recent research on child development,
examine how research informs recommendations, and explore what services can
facilitate shared parenting with this special population.
Topic
Outline
I.
Looking
at the spectrum of never married parents:
Parents never lived together or had
relationship;
Parents never lived together but had
relationship;
Parents lived together briefly before and/or
after birth;
and Parents with a committed
relationship.
II.
Differences
in married vs. never married parents:
Education;
Income;
Mental
health;
Access
to child;
Participation
in decision-making.
III.
The
roots of conflict:
Gatekeeping;
Lack
of trust;
Lack
of communication skills;
Lack
of conflict resolution skills
IV.
Prepare
to share:
Tools required to facilitate coparenting: Socio-economic, Relationship, Maintenance and Developmental equipment
V.
What
keeps fathers involved with their children
VI.
Research
on parenting plans and very young children
VII.
Research
on parenting plans and children over 4
VIII.
When
does the shared care shoe fit?
IX.
Interventions
for never married parents:
Education;
Parent
coaching;
Parenting
coordination
LEARNING OBJECTIVES: Participants will:
1)
Gain
an understanding of the unique needs and special challenges for never married
parents relative to cooperative co-parenting
2)
Develop
parenting plans that meet the varied needs of these parents
3)
Apply
a research base to recommendations in these cases
Mindy
F. Mitnick is a Licensed Psychologist practicing in Minneapolis.
She received a Master of Education from Harvard University and a Master
of Arts from the University of Minnesota. She
specializes in complex custody cases, working as an evaluator, therapist and
parenting consultant. Ms. Mitnick
has trained professionals throughout the country and internationally about
developmental issues in parenting schedules, effective interventions in
high-conflict divorce, assessing allegations of sexual abuse during divorce
disputes, and the use of expert witnesses in divorce cases.
She has been a speaker for the National Association of Counsel for
Children, the Association of Family and Conciliation Courts, the American
Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers, and the National Center for Prosecution of Child
Abuse. Ms. Mitnick served on the
Minnesota Supreme Court Task Force on Parental Cooperation, as a consultant to
the Minnesota Supreme Court Task Force on Visitation, and as a member of the ABA
Criminal Justice Section Task Force on Child Witnesses.
She is a member of the Board of Directors of AFCC and was a contributor
to the AFCC Guidelines for Court-Involved Therapy.
Track F -- Robin Ballard, doctoral candidate
The Child Informed Mediation Study: Immediate Outcomes of a
Randomized Controlled Trial
There has been increased interest in making certain that we include the voice of the child in how we process family law cases. The first randomized controlled trial study results are presented here addressing child-focused (CF) and child-inclusive (CI) mediation with mediation as usual (MAU) formats. The CF and CI interventions, previously tested only in Australia, were designed to enhance parental capacity to understand the needs of their children in divorce or separation (McIntosh, Wells, Smyth & Long, 2008). This workshop provides background information and rationales for conducting interdisciplinary research, study methodology and hypothetical vignettes to illustrate the interventions. Discussion includes consideration of important practical issues, such as whether CF and CI raise concerns about mediator neutrality and how mediators can use child consultant feedback to help parents reach agreement. Improved outcomes and greater satisfaction with the mediation process may follow from research in this field.
Learning
Objectives
1)
Understand data from the first randomized controlled trial comparing the
immediate outcomes of child inclusive (CI) and child focused (CF) mediation to
those of mediation as usual (MAU)
2)
Consider implications of research data for the practice of divorce mediation and
family law.
3)
Be familiar with this research collaboration between social sciences and family
law experts and consider the perspective of both in conducting a study of the
effectiveness of mediation and in conducting different types of mediation.
Robin Ballard is a graduate
student in clinical science at Indiana University conducting interdisciplinary
research on family law and clinical psychology. She has a BA degree in
psychology from Carleton College with a thesis on primate cognition. She has
worked in the Washington State Legislature as a legislative aide to Senator
Maralyn Chase (32nd Legislative District), and as a research project
manager in the Department of Rehabilitation Medicine at the University of
Washington. In graduate school, she
pursued multiple lines of research in the context of the Viola J. Taliaferro
Family and Mediation Clinic at the Indiana University Maurer School of Law:
determining predictors of success in mediation, assessment of intimate partner
violence (IPV) and interventions to improve outcomes for parents and children
following relationship dissolution. Her dissertation focused on the immediate
outcomes of a randomized controlled trial of child-focused and child-inclusive
mediation practices. This research activity was complemented by co-teaching a
seminar in Children, Psychology and Law with Professor Orenstein at the IU law
school. As a clinician, she has worked with divorcing families as groups and as
individuals, provided parent behavior training to parents with oppositional
children, conducted cognitive behavioral therapy for students with anxiety and
depression. She also has experience with motivational interviewing for students
who have abused alcohol and with metacognitive therapy for veterans with
schizophrenia.
Track G -- Bruce Harshman, Ph.D.
Re-Unification: Problems and Pitfalls to Possibilities and
Potential
This
workshop will discuss the problems that children encounter after their
parent’s divorce, the impact these problems have on their development and
relationship with each parent subsequent to divorce, and the difficulty in
restoring healthy parent/child relationships that occur after a high conflict
divorce has wreaked havoc on a divorcing family. Ultimately the presentation
will offer new models for successful Reunification Therapy. The presentation
will explain the different kinds of family dynamics in high conflict divorce and
how they impact children of high conflict divorce. The presentation will explain
how trauma occurs in these children, and why these children so frequently resist
visitation with one parent. It will summarize the current research on why
existing models of Re-Unification Therapy have failed, especially with preteen
and adolescent children, and will offer novel models and ideas for successful
Re-Unification Therapy. The presentation will be divided into four different
segments: 1) Problems, 2) Pitfalls, 3) Possibilities, and 4) Potentials. There
will be a question and answer period at the end of the final segment. The
presentation will include a detailed didactic portion and a give-and-take
interactive portion to elicit participant involvement and problem-solving
exchanges.
Learning
Objectives:
1)
Judges, attorneys, and therapists will learn how to structure treatment
protocols to repair and restore a ruptured parent-child relationship;
2)
Judges, attorneys, and therapists will gain knowledge about research and
treatment outcome studies for reunification therapy and learn about outcomes,
positive and negative, for real world reunification case examples.
3) Therapists will learn how to assess and change on-going treatment
approaches for optimal treatment outcomes.
Dr.
Bruce Harshman is a licensed psychotherapist for 30 years in private practice in
Sherman Oaks, California. He has an extensive background in family and marital
therapy, clinical psychology, and psychodiagnostic testing and research. Dr.
Harshman specializes in brief and family systems therapy for family, marital,
parent-child/parent-adolescent problems, and re-unification of parent-child
relationships. Dr. Harshman specializes in comprehensive child custody
evaluations, having conducted over 350 Child Custody Evaluations. He has
presented at National and Regional AFCC Workshops, Administration of the Courts,
Minor’s Counsel Workshops, and attorney study groups in Southern California.
Dr. Harshman has taught psychology classes in California State Universities. He
has also lectured throughout the United States, Canada, and Europe on
family/marital problems, meditation and stress reduction.
Track H – Donald Gordon, Ph.D.
Training Couples in Conflict for Co-Parenting: Using technology and
neuroscience.
Advances
in mindfulness-based parent education along with advances in computer-assisted
learning have made teaching skills to reduce conflict and protect children
significantly easier. Research on parent education highlights effective and
ineffective methods for recruiting and retaining parents, and teaching them
skills to improve their children’s adjustment. Evidence-based parenting
program will be compared in terms of teaching strategies employed, length of
training, effectiveness, and cost. Devising programs utilizing neuroscience
principles and mindfulness to meet the needs of couples in conflict should
incorporate key principles and methods. An understanding of conflict,
structuring learning that incorporates this understanding, and involving the
learner intensively in the curriculum leads to rapid learning that is explained
by neuroscience. A description is given of an online program for divorcing
and separating families, approved in several counties in WA, that features
interaction, user feedback, presentation of appropriate video sequences to
impact users, testing knowledge and skill acquisition, and tracking of user
progress. Impacts on family interactions, parental conflict, parent-child
conflict, child adjustment, mindfulness, and parental self-efficacy are some of
the outcomes that this and similar technology improves. Similar technology is
used in an online parenting skill program for parents of delinquents and
disruptive teens. The research on both programs will be summarized. Audience
participation during a demonstration of the programs is high.
Learning
Objectives:
1.
To identify the most effective teaching strategies to impart parenting skills
for parents.
2.
Explain how technology can reduce program and participant costs, and improve
access.
3. Explain the neurobiological basis for conflict and its remediation.
Don Gordon is a Co-Founder and Executive Director of the Center for Divorce Education. Dr. Gordon is a 40+ year clinical psychologist and researcher with an area of expertise targeting the reduction and prevention of juvenile delinquency. During his 40 years of working with families, Dr. Gordon has studied the effects that different strategies have on reducing conflict within a family (both with parents and children). In the early 1980’s Dr. Gordon and his colleague Dr. Jack Arbothnot developed the Children in Between curriculum (formerly known as Children in the Middle) which is designed specifically to help change the behaviors of divorcing/separating parents who unknowingly place their children in the middle of their conflict, resulting in the most harmful of consequences which often lead to youth acting out in negative ways. For more than 20 years, Dr. Gordon has been providing parenting and co-parenting curricula that is skills-based, allowing families to take away from each course concrete, actionable steps that can be turned into behavior changing habits. These results improve the lives of parents, their children, and their family unit overall. Through the Center, Dr. Gordon continues to pursue research that challenges his own assumptions and strives to find best-practices that continue to (a) help families reduce their conflict, and (b) help courts by providing families with tools that are proven to shift re-litigation rates and improve communication and interaction.
Registration includes program materials, training and refreshments. Members will
be holding a lunch meeting and mingle (buffet lunch served). Tickets
are available for non-members to join the lunch meeting, otherwise lunch is on
your own.
Register early for savings. Class size is limited, so sign up soon.
Program materials will be distributed on-line and by way of USB flash drive as PDF
documents. Session materials will not be distributed in print form at the
conference. High speed wireless internet is available at the Washington Athletic
Club for a fee.
Parking fees are not included. There are several public lots nearby and a
parking facility used by the WAC is about a half-block north on Sixth. Public
transportation is also available.
Lodging: Please make your own travel arrangements. A limited number of rooms are available at the WAC for WA AFCC attendees. Other major hotel chains such as the Sheraton are within easy walking distance.
Who Should Attend? Attorneys, Guardian Ad Litem, Judicial
Officers, Psychologists, Mental Health Professionals, Researchers and Treatment
Providers involved with Family Law and Dependency Court custody matters.
The Washington State Bar has approved this program for up to 6.0
hours of Continuing Legal Education (Activity ID: 331029). WA AFCC is an
approved provider(#1975-312) for continuing education credits under the
guidelines set forth by the NASW-WA chapter. Up to 6.0 hours of Continuing
Education Credit is available with this program.
Attorneys wishing to have their CE credits reported to the WSBA for
CLE certification will be required to pay a fee to cover administrative and
reporting costs. AFCC members will be charged $10 for this reporting fee.
Non-members will be charged $15.
The training program has been reviewed by the Association of Family
and Conciliation Courts and allows for up to 6.0 hours of continuing education
for psychologists. AFCC is approved by the American Psychological Association to
sponsor continuing education for psychologists. AFCC maintains responsibility
for the program and its content.
AFCC will provide a certificate of conference attendance for a
processing fee of $10 for members and $15 for non-members. The certificate will
verify attendance at conference sessions and may be used to apply for continuing
education credits with the registrant’s accrediting institution.
All persons registered in advance will be able to pick up a
certificate of attendance at the close of the conference. They will be required
to fill out and return a verification of attendance form which will be signed by
one of our staff. These certificates are provided with conference registration.
However, only those persons paying the additional certificate fees noted above
will have their CLE hours reported directly to the WSBA or receive a copy of the
AFCC signed certificate.
Audio
Recording:
Conference sessions will be recorded and MP3 downloads of the sessions will be
available after the conference through VWTapes.com who will offer both immediate
MP3 downloads and CD formats. Information will be posted on our website for
access to these and other conference recordings. You may also go to VWTapes
directly at http://vwtapes.com/wa-afcc.aspx
to purchase recordings. No personal audio or video recording of sessions is
permitted.
Special
Needs: If
you have special meal requests or other special needs, please note this on the
registration form. The WAC meeting facilities, its guest rooms, common areas,
and transportation services are in compliance with public accommodation
requirements of the ADA.
Cancellation Policy: Transfer of registration to another person may be done at any time prior to
the event without a fee. All requests for refunds must be made in writing.
Written notice of cancellation received by fax or postmarked by March 15, 2013
will be issued a full refund minus a $25 service fee. Written notice after March
15th will have the service fee deducted and the balance will be issued as a
credit for future WA AFCC conferences, publications, or membership dues. No
refunds or credits will be issued for cancellations received after April 4,
2013.