For the love of Fluffy: Transitional objects and high conflict divorce

Course: For the love of Fluffy: Transitional objects and high conflict divorce Instructor: Benjamin D. Garber, Ph.D. Approved for 6.0 Hours of CE Credit  Fulfills Requirements for Psycholgists, MFTs, LCSWs, and Licensed Professional Counselors.  This course is designed for Full and Part-Time Private Practitioners, and Full and Part-Time Agency Employees High Resolution Online Streaming Video Format Available

Transitional objects are those beloved teddy bears and blankies, pacifiers and scarps of old notes that communicate an absent loved one’s caring. As such, transitional objects provide children who are forced to endure their parents’ conflicts with critical emotional fuel no less so than they help we, the professionals tasked with helping these children, endure our own stresses.

This training is structured in two parts. Part One introduces the concept of transitional objects, their place in the course of human development, and their palliative value to children who are forced to manage separations from their caregivers. The Canadian case known as Chomos (Chomos v Hamilton, 2016 ONSC 5208) is used to illustrate how transitional objects can be used and misused in the context of high conflict divorce.

Part Two expands on the idea of the transitional object as a source of emotional fuel to highlight the question that must be asked in every aspect of our work in family law and when looking in the mirror: “Where do you get refueled?” Viewing our work and ourselves in this frame opens the door to specific applications to (a) reunification interventions, (b) child custody evaluations, (c) co-parenting and Parenting Coordination services, and self-care. The program ends by asking how you get refueled, and what steps you’re taking to minimize the risk of burn out and compassion fatigue so common among family law professionals.

Course Goal and Objectives

• Describe the concept and developmental value of “transitional object” as it is generally used in psychodynamic psychology.
• Discuss the palliative uses of transitional objects for children caught up in their parents’ conflicts, separation and divorce.
• Recognize transitional objects as a child’s portable source of “emotional fuel,” and, in so doing, help high conflict co-parents focus more on “where do you get refueled?”
• In reunification interventions: Analyze transitional objects as a child’s portable source of “emotional fuel,” and, in so doing, help the “out-parent” to become a source of emotional fuel for the child.
• In child custody evaluations: Assess transitional objects as a child’s portable source of “emotional fuel,” and, in so doing, allow an understanding of where each child gets refueled and how each caregiver provides that fuel to become one of the critical variables that can guide evaluation and resulting recommendations.
• In self-care: Discuss and critique transitional objects as a child’s portable source of “emotional fuel,” and, in so doing, come better able to recognize where to go to get emotionally refueled as one means of managing the very high risks of burn-out and compassion fatigue inherent in our work in family law.

Registration Information   $99.00

CE Approval Information This course fulfills 6.0 hours Continuing Education credit for licensed mental health professionals in most states. The Steve Frankel Group, LLC is approved by the American Psychological Association to sponsor continuing education for Psychologists. The Steve Frankel Group, LLC maintains responsibility for this program and its content. This course meets the qualifications for 6 hours of CE credit for Psychologists, MFTs, LCSWs, and LPCCs. The course outline or agenda for this training has been approved as corresponding to subject areas specified in California Rules of Court, rules 5.225(d)(1)-(3).

Your access to the course material extends for 1-year from the date of purchase. This includes after passing the post-test, so you may continue to review its contents.