Children and Divorce: Understanding Clinical Implications and Techniques

Children and Divorce: Understanding Clinical Implications and Techniques

The purpose of this course is to provide an orientation and framework for clinicians who are interested in working with children and families who are impacted by any aspect of divorce/separation. This seminar is designed to equip mental health therapists with a diverse set of skills, ensuring they can provide comprehensive and effective support to children and families facing the complexities of divorce.

Course Description:

This comprehensive course is designed to equip mental health therapists with an extensive understanding of the effects and implications of divorce on children, along with specialized clinical techniques to effectively support them and their parents/caregivers. Participants will explore the developmental perspectives on children and divorce, learn assessment and intervention techniques, and gain insights into family dynamics, including the impact of parental conflict and challenges within blended families. The course also emphasizes cultural sensitivity and diversity, ensuring therapists can provide inclusive and tailored support to families from various cultural backgrounds, including LGBTQ+ families. Through a combination of theoretical knowledge, case studies, and practical exercises, participants will enhance their ability to navigate the complexities of divorce within a therapeutic context, ultimately empowering them to make a positive impact on the well-being of children in these challenging circumstances. Divorce can significantly impact a child's emotional and psychological well-being, necessitating therapists to possess a nuanced skill set for intervention.

Specific new skills that will be taught include:

• Understand the principles of divorce and the impact on children.
• Understand and identify the unique emotional and psychological needs of children in divorced families.
• Apply therapeutic interventions tailored to the developmental stages of children experiencing divorce.
• Understand how to integrate different types of therapeutic approaches such as; cognitive-behavioral approaches, play therapy, and processing interventions.
• Learn how to help clients and their families create a structure around effective communication.
• Learn how conflict between parents impacts children and their emotional development.
• Learn how to help parents who conflict and struggle with parental decision making.
• Help parents learn how to set healthy boundaries with both their children and the co-parent.
• Develop skills around building effective and empathetic communication strategies with children and parents.
•  Learn how to facilitate open and supportive dialogue within families to address concerns and challenges.
• Understanding the ethical issues involved in working with children of divorce.
• How to work with one parent on co-parenting when the other parent isn’t cooperative.
• Learn how to integrate  the unique dynamics of blended families.
• Understand how the co-parenting process impacts children.
• Understand and integrate cultural sensitivity into therapeutic practice.
• Adapt interventions to meet the unique cultural needs of diverse families, including LGBTQ+ families.
• Apply trauma-informed care principles to understand and address the potential trauma experienced by children during the divorce process.
• Develop self-care strategies to manage the emotional demands of working with families in challenging situations.
• Empower families to navigate the challenges of divorce and build resilience.
• Understand the dynamics of parental alienation, and the impact on children,  how to recognize, respond and be proactive.

  Learning Objectives:

 Participants will be able to:

• Understand and identify the effects of divorce on children.
• Identify & assess how the specific components of co-parenting effect whole family system
• Learn clinical skills and interventions to address the needs of children in divorced families.
• Navigate and address challenges within family dynamics, including parental conflict and blended family complexities.
• Learn conflict resolution, de-escalation and effective communication skills specific to the issues of co-parenting.
• Develop collaborative strategies with parents to address the needs of the child to create a supportive environment pre/post and during the divorce process.

Teaching Methods:

 This course will be taught with a combination of methods including didactic lecture and interactive activities which will:

• Offer participants the opportunity to practice the skills, techniques and strategies that prepare them for working with children and families as related to divorce.
• Engage participants in experiencing the client perspective through hands-on experiential exercises.
• Discussion of how to apply clinical skills relating to children and divorce, as well as provide case examples throughout.