This webinar will provide mental health professionals and attorneys with practice tips before they ever meet a client. This webinar is designed for professionals that act as mediators, parent coordinators, GAL’s, court-appointed therapists, consultants, and evaluators. The purpose of this webinar is to present and discuss information and documents that should be completed prior to ever meeting a client. This includes screening forms, intake forms, statements of understanding, and assent/consent forms. A review of AFCC Guidelines and how they impact the type of forms developed will be discussed. | | | Matthew J. Sullivan, PhD, is a highly experienced forensic and clinical practitioner in Family Courts with over 30 years of private practice in Palo Alto, California. He is an accomplished author, pioneer of the international Parenting Coordination role, and provides training to family justice professionals on addressing Parent-Child Contact problems in high conflict shared parenting arrangements. As the former President of the Association of Family and Conciliation Courts (AFCC), he has made significant contributions to the field. Dr. Sullivan is also a co-founder of Overcoming Barriers, Inc., a non-profit organization dedicated to innovative programs for high conflict shared custody cases. | | | |
Registration
Members: $15
Non-Members: $50
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Certificate of Attendance
Members: $15
Non-members: $20
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AFCC DE&I Webinar Series
The Intersection of Family Court, Religion, and Tradition
Leah R. Younger, PsyD, Darrin W. Gerson, PsyD
Wednesday, October 11, 2023
4:00pm-6:00pm Eastern Time (US & Canada)
Registration closes October 10, 2023, at 9am Eastern Time US
Registration is free, but you must register in order to receive the link to join the webinar.
Family law professionals bring a unique set of biases and opinions to their work. Personal backgrounds and experiences inform how clients, their families, and their traditions are viewed - as well with the actual work professionals provide. In this webinar, the presenters will discuss the various religious and cultural issues that often present for family law professionals. They will also share the numerous experiences they have had when working with clients of various religious backgrounds, and with the intersection of religion and cultural traditions. Attendees will have the opportunity to increase their awareness of variations and nuances that have implications for parenting plans, agreements between parents, and court orders. The presenters will review how their interventions have been informed to meet the needs of their clients.
Leah R. Younger, PsyD, is a licensed psychologist in New York State. After working in elementary schools and child inpatient settings, Dr. Younger obtained postdoctoral training and has been practicing in the fields of child and forensic psychology since. In her current role as Clinical Director of Younger Psychology, Dr. Younger provides a wide range of child and divorce-related services. These include performing assessments and therapeutic interventions with diverse populations of children, adults, and families. Dr. Younger also provides trial consultation services, including testifying as an expert witness and conducting peer review. Dr. Younger performs these functions for families involved in Family and Supreme Courts of Nassau County, Richmond County, Kings County, Queens County, and New York County.
Darrin W. Gerson, PsyD, a clinician at Younger Psychology, Dr. Gerson is a New York State licensed psychologist with extensive experience working with children, adolescents, and adults in a host of settings including inpatient, residential, and outpatient facilities. He is currently the Chief of Service at Creedmoor Psychiatric Center. Dr. Gerson conducts psychological evaluations across Long Island and New York City for parties including DSS/ACS, OCFS, Family Court and Supreme Court, and has provided a range of other assessments, including focused diagnostic evaluations and in-depth evaluations of competency and risk assessment.
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AFCC Fall 2023 Virtual Conference
Addiction, Family Violence and Mental Illness:
Assessing and Managing Challenges to Contemporary Co-parenting
November 1-3 and 6-7, 2023
In response to popular demand, AFCC is presenting the Fall 2023 Conference virtually! This conference features two pre-conference institutes, 20 workshops, an opening session, and a plenary session. All workshops and general sessions will be recorded and made available to all registrants live and following the conference! This means that if you are unable to attend a workshop due to a scheduling conflict, you can watch it later to gain the information you missed.
AFCC has finalized the Fall 2023 Virtual Conference itinerary and we expect to have the brochure published by the end of the month. For now, here are some of the conference highlights:
Pre-Conference Institutes:
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Parent-Child Contact Disruption in Multi-Problem families: What Do We know? What Can We Do?
- Everything Lawyers Ever Wanted to Know About High Conflict Divorce but Are Afraid to Ask
Opening Session: Children, Mental Health, and Family Law
Exposure to parental conflict can cause significant stress and even trauma for children. This can increase their risk for mental and physical health problems, and have a negative impact on all aspects of their development. Many parents do not fully understand or intend to cause harm to their children and others act with a genuine belief that they are protecting their children from the actions of the other parent. Regardless of parental mindset, traditional approaches to these problems aren’t always effective or based on current scientific knowledge and may end up exacerbating the trauma-impact for children rather than using the court’s authority to ensure that children and families receive appropriate services. The presenters will examine an age-old dilemma with a new lens, including the importance of interdisciplinary communication, more effective judicial processes, early interventions for families in transition, effective approaches to treatment, ideas for clear court orders, and structured problem-solving techniques.
Plenary Session: Trauma-Informed Lawyering
This session will introduce participants to the principles of trauma-informed legal practice, with emphasis on specific skills that attorneys and others working with court-involved families can utilize in preparing for court and in court. The session will offer a judicial perspective on trauma-informed judicial practice and a psychologist’s perspective on lawyers understanding the impact of trauma on children, assisting their parent clients in being trauma informed so that parenting meets children's needs, as well as how attorneys can help the court incorporate information about trauma in their decisions about children. The presenters will highlight opportunities for trauma-informed systemic reform which attorneys, judges and other professionals can implement.
Members Outside of North America Register for Free!
In recognition of time zone limitations, all AFCC members who reside outside of North American may register for the conference at no charge and may attend the live session and also have access all conference recordings.
Conference brochure coming soon to AFCC's website!
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Online Training Programs
AFCC online training programs will be returning this December. This Advanced Issues training lineup will feature a new two-part program on court involved therapy presented by Matthew J. Sullivan, PhD and Lyn R. Greenberg, PhD, ABPP. Stay tuned for more information.
December 4-7, 2023
Registration opens in August!
January 16-18, 2024
March 11-14, 2024 and March 18-20, 2024
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Conference Topics:
- Trans Youth in Separating Families
- Individualized Parenting Plans for Multiple Siblings
- Transgender Parenthood
- Transnational Families
- Assisted Reproduction Technologies
- LGBTQ+ Families
- New Ideas for Parent Education Programs
- Innovations in Family Court Services
- Parent-child Contact Problems
- Digital Family Law
- Relocation
- Intimate Partner Violence
- International Family Law
- Stepfamily Transitions
- Parenting Coordination
- Family Law and Mental Health
- Empirical Methods in Family Law Research
- Allegations of Child Sexual Abuse
- Family Dispute Resolution Innovations
All proposals are due by 11:00pm Eastern Daylight Time (USA), October 2, 2023. Please see the Call for Proposals for more information and use the online form to submit your application.
| | Darlene Taylor, AFCC member from California has published a new book "It's Not About Us." This book is part memoir and part survival guide as she shares her unexpected journey of moving across the country at her ex-husband's request after a rocky divorce. With humor and honesty, she navigates the challenges of co-parenting, offering valuable nuggets of wisdom along the way. | | | Kevin Scudder, AFCC member from Seattle passed away recently due to unexpected surgical complications. Kevin was involved in AFCC, as well as involved in the International Academy of Collaborative Professionals (IACP) conducting workshops, providing leadership, and serving on the IACP's Board of Directors. Beyond his professional achievements, Kevin's infectious humor and genuine care for others brightened every room he entered. He embraced the mantra of "Peacemaking. Let It Begin With Me," inspiring us to not only promote peace and unity, but in order to do so we must be the change we would like to see. | | | Online Access to the Family Court Review | | |
Did you know as an AFCC member, you have access to the Family Court Review online archives? Visit the member center of our website to read any volumes you may have missed. These archives date all the way back to the inaugural issue in 1963.
In addition to the archives, you can also sign up for alerts for when a new article is published in the FCR which will allow you to stay up to date and get the scoop much sooner than the in-print edition.
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AFCC 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. The AFCC eNEWS is provided at no charge to you; anyone can subscribe. Subscribe here.
AFCC members are free to share eNEWS content.
EDITOR:
Ann Ordway, JD, PhD
ASSOCIATE EDITOR:
Patrick Sommer
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