Family Court Coaching
The divorce and child custody process can be confusing and stressful. It may feel like you don’t have enough information to know what is happening now or what comes next, or it may feel like your primary attorney isn’t hearing you. Often there is a gap in understanding between you and your primary attorney. Our Family Court Coaching services can help bridge that gap by creating a safe environment for you to discuss the issues you believe are most important in your case, translating those issues into actionable goals, and helping you deliver that information to your primary attorney in a way they can best utilize.
Co-Parenting Coaching
Co-parenting from separate households can be difficult, especially after separation or divorce. If there is continued conflict it can negatively affect the whole family – parents and children alike. There are times when simple misunderstandings can escalate to the point of seeking court intervention. Whether you have recently restructured your family or have been separated for a while, our skilled and practical guidance can assist you in resolving impasse and moving forward without litigation.
Individualized Co-Parenting Education
So you have a parenting plan. What next? We can guide you through the complex transition from being parents to being co-parents. We can help parents recognize behaviors that make co-parenting more challenging, and help you learn the skills needed to be an effective co-parent. We can provide you with resources to address the needs of your family. We can assist your family in implementing your parenting plan with an overall goal of being able to navigate conflict in a way that supports a healthy and harmonious balance for your family. This is not therapy. This is meant to help parents identify and reach goals while giving them support as they implement new skills.
Continued Support
Regardless of what stage of the separation/divorce process you are at, our co-parenting coaching sessions can provide support. We are here to help you navigate co-parenting obstacles with the goal of reducing conflict. We can also assist as children get older, circumstances change and new issues arise which were not contemplated in the original parenting plan.
Here are just some of the issues that we can assist with:
- Breakdown in communication
- Problematic communication problems
- Overstepping boundaries
- Differing parenting perspectives or parenting philosophies
- Difficult agreeing on arrangements for the children
- One parent is not sticking to the agreement
- Disagreements over educational matters or extra-curricular activities
- How to manage new health needs
- Navigating the remarriage of a parent/blending of families
- Modification of the parenting time schedule
- Parents can’t agree on a particular issue
After each coaching session, a summary of the session will be available. This is not a legally binding document, but is an important item to reference on the journey of co-parenting.
Informal Parenting Agreements
We’ve found that one of the things courts often do not understand is that parenting plans are not one-size-fits-all. Each family is different and has their own unique needs and values. Some parents who want to live separately do not want to engage the courts to make decisions for their family, but would still like a set of guiding principles. For these parents, we can assist in creating an Informal Parenting Agreement. [linked from Legal Services section] This type of agreement helps co-parents be on the same page about parenting without the risk of getting caught up in the adversarial mentality associated with litigating in court. It also allows the parents autonomy to raise their children by their own standards, and not ones handed down to them by a court. This document is not legally binding, and is more aspirational in nature.