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One of the more recent innovative concepts by family court for the facilitation of more positive parent/child relationships is reunification therapy. In many family cases, particularly in contentious divorces, a…
Co-parenting involves the active cooperation of both parents in raising children. This should be the goal for all parents, whether the family is intact physically or separated through divorce. Healthy co-parenting…
With the trend in family court towards recognizing equal parent participation in childrearing, both in this state and in the nation, it has made it more likely that there will be greater conflict in resolving co-parenting issues. It is estimated that nearly 20 percent of family law cases involve high conflict couples….
Allegations of parental alienation are common in high conflict divorces. They are usually a function of deeper issues in the family including exposure to high intense marital conflict, humiliating separation, and professional mismanagement (Kelly & Johnston, 2001). The concept of family alienation was popularized by Gardner (2002) who describes it as a…
There are basically three types of co-parenting relationships. The most prevalent is parallel co-parenting in which each parent is basically disengaged from the other but is active in parenting. The relationship is characterized by minimal cooperation with each other but no open conflict. Approximately 35% of…
I receive more referrals from forensic clients than from lawyers. Each time I tell those individuals I need to speak with their lawyers. This is because the forensic psychologist works for the lawyer or the court not the client. So what is the value of using a…
Dr. Silverman appears on Lifetime’s series, “Killer Kids.”Killer Kids
In an interesting study by Jameson, Ehrenberg and Hunter (1997), psychologists were asked to rank sixty criteria obtained from legal and psychological authorities that were relevant to the best interest of the child in determining custody. The top five criteria were as follows: (1) sexual abuse of the…
As a family lawyer, it is essential that you have some knowledge of child development when designing parenting plans. Each developmental period of a child has its own challenges for parents. Even within developmental periods there are deviations dependent upon both the temperament and maturity of the child…
As family law practitioners are aware, divorce cases can trigger extreme emotional responses in clients. They are exacerbated when one or both parties has a moderate to severe personality disorder(s). In such cases an otherwise “simple” divorce is turned into a difficult and long affair that may last many…
