Article archive / February 2020
Originally published: . Volume 11, No. 2. Source pages: 1, 8.
Great Need for Psychologists as Mediators Louisiana Chapter of Assn Family & Conciliation Courts to Hold 10th Annual Conference in March
The Association of Family and Conciliation Courts, Louisiana Chapter (AFCC-LA) will celebrate its tenth anniversary with a two-day training on parenting coordination and mediation skills, March 6-7, 2020, to be held at the Canal Street Sheraton in New Orleans.
The theme, “Calming the Waters: Parenting Coordination and Mediation Skills” aims to help professionals who want to add competencies in this practice area. The event includes six hours of training on Friday for parenting coordination and six hours on Saturday for Mediation Skills Training.
AFCC-LA Chapter President Leslie Todd, LCSW, has said there is a great need in Louisiana for more mediators and coordinators. This conference aims to provide needed training for those professionals who are thinking of building this competence.
“Sadly, I don’t believe there is a single psychologist in Louisiana who provides mediation or parenting coordination, although this is common in other states," Todd has said. "Those interested in family systems could offer these much- needed services to help families with divorce, visitation, relocation, and even eldercare.”
She hopes that Louisiana psychologists will be encouraged to hear nationally-known psychologist Dr. Robin M. Deutsch, a pioneer and advocate of parenting coordination, at the March 6-7 event.
Robin Deutsch, PhD, is a Diplomate in Couple and Family Psychology and Professor of Clinical Psychology at William James College. She is founder and Director of the Center of Excellence for Children, Families and the Law at William James College.
Family Courts, which have evolved from a more adversarial system, Todd has explained, are in need of more psychologists and other mental health professionals who can help families define their structures and address their conflicting interests in more self-empowering and productive ways.
Todd's husband, and also a leader in the local AFCC Chapter, psychologist Dr. Alan Taylor, agrees. He has explained the opportunities for those interested in this challenging work. “I believe that affiliation with AFCC provides a wonderful opportunity for young professionals,” he said, as a way to develop skills and professional competence. “Family court work is a rapidly evolving and developing field that can be very fulfilling and rewarding,” he said. And, he believes that older, more experienced mental health professionals would be valued and welcomed into this area.
"There continues to be a need for more seasoned clinicians who can bring their knowledge and experience into this field and secure the rewards of being challenged and stimulated to use all the abilities they have developed in their education and training on a day- to-day basis.”
The March 6 presentation aims to help meet this need. Dr. Deutsch has performed a wide variety of forensic evaluations and testified in juvenile, family, district and federal courts involving divorce and visitation disputes. She teaches extensively to judges, lawyers, mediators, and mental health groups in the US, Canada, Europe and Asia. She has published extensively on issues related to attachment, alienation, co-parenting after divorce, high conflict divorce, parenting plans, and parenting coordination. She is the co- author of 7 Things Your Teenager Won’t Tell You: and How to Talk about Them Anyway (Ballantine, 2005, 2011) and co- editor of Overcoming Parent-Child Contact Problems: Family- Based Interventions for Resistance, Rejection, and Alienation (Oxford, 2016).
Also presenting will be Dr. Ann Ordway, core faculty in the Counselor Education Department at the University of Phoenix. She holds a Juris Doctor degree and a PhD in Counselor Education and Supervision. She was a licensed attorney in New Jersey for nearly 25 years where she practiced exclusively in the field of family law. Ordway is a frequent regional and national presenter and she has authored and co- authored several articles related to high conflict divorce, parental alienation, and parenting coordination.
Also presenting is Mark Myers, JD. Myers has been providing ADR services for more than 20 years as a member of the Association of Attorney Mediators, the Association for Conflict Resolution, and the Association of Family and Conciliation Courts. His degree is from Tulane.
Psychologists interested in this area of practice are invited to talk with Todd or Taylor. "I am very proud to have been associated with the initiation and development of the Louisiana state chapter of AFCC,” said Taylor.
“The mission of AFCC-LA is to be a resource center and act as a change agent in the areas of family law,” said Taylor. “Its goal is to transform the family court system into a more efficient and humane support system for those who are encountering serious conflicts and adverse effects on children and families.”
“Justice should be tempered with mercy,” said Todd. “Family court officers bring justice; mental health professionals bring mercy—we educate parents about children’s needs for peace between households, and we can teach them the skills to achieve it.”
Todd has been in private practice since 1990. She has been a child custody evaluator for over 20 years and has served several times on the Louisiana State Board of Social Work Examiners’ Custody Evaluations Task Force.
In 2007 Todd rallied Baton Rouge professionals to start an AFCC Chapter and served on the Louisiana State Law Institute’s Parenting Coordination Committee to enact the law, making Louisiana the 13th state to have Parent Coordinators. In addition to her work as a Parent Coordinator, mediator, custody evaluator, and therapist. Todd travels the state offering Family Court-related workshops, and encouraging young mental health professionals to enter the field.
Association of Family and Conciliation Courts is an interdisciplinary, international association of professionals dedicated to improving the lives of children and families through the resolution of family conflict.
See full agenda and registration information at website: www.afcc- la.org
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