Parenting Coordination
Several of our therapists have been approved to be included in the Family Court Services Parenting Coordinator Resource Guide, for the 11th Judicial Circuit.
A Parenting Coordinator assists parents and children by creating and/or implementing a parenting plan most effective for that particular family’s needs. Such a plan minimizes the children’s exposure to parental conflict while balancing their developmental needs with reasonable parental time sharing and protecting the best interests of the children.
During what is one of the most painful, most stressful periods of their lives even parents with solid parenting skills and the best intentions are often incapable of achieving cooperative parenting behavior without outside intervention. The parental conflict and contempt can sometimes result in parental alienation, which can have long lasting and devastating consequences for the relationship between children and a parent and for the overall well-being of the children.
Research shows that the level and intensity of parental conflict is the most potent factor in children’s post divorce adjustment. A Parenting Coordinator fosters communication and problem solving skills between the parents. Once the Parenting Coordinator becomes involved, the parents tend to work out the differences that seemed insurmountable previously.
A Parenting Coordinator is a neutral third party and is not the ally of either parent. It is because of this neutrality that a Parenting Coordinator can be an effective educator, mediator and counselor to the whole family. In addition to meeting with the parents the Parenting Coordinator frequently meets with the children and consults with other professionals (e.g. attorneys, teachers, Guardians ad litem, psychologists, medical doctors, etc.) and other individuals (e.g. grandparents, nannies, etc.) involved with the family.
The Parenting Coordinator may continue to be involved with the family while they navigate through various life stages and transitions, well after the actual legal divorce has been completed.