Presented in one 3.5 Hour Module

This 3.5-hour course, taught by internationally recognized child custody evaulation expert, Philip M. Stahl, PhD, ABPP, focuses on dealing with alienation issues in working with high conflict families. Parents in these cases often have personality traits that further reinforce conflicts, and make resolution very difficult for many evaluators and attorneys. Additionally, other factors including litigation and lengthy court processes may contribute to conflicst between parents. When families are in high conflict, a potential effect is the alienation of children. Children are at risk of becoming alienated when exposed to the conflict and when parents behave and stimulate emotions which lead to loyalty conflicts. Dr. Stahl guides the evaluator through an understanding of the dynamics of high conflict families, the ways that conflict manifest, and strategies to help courts and families reduce the conflict. In addition, he focuses on the dynamics of alienation, and how some children become estranged and alienated from a parent with whom they previously had a healthy relationship. Finally, Dr. Stahl differentiates abuse cases from others in which children have historically had a poor relationship with one of their parents, and explores strategies for dealing with alienation.