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Parenting Coordination: Applying Clinical Thinking to the Management and Resolution of Post‐Divorce Conflict
Author(s) -
Demby Steven L.
Publication year - 2016
Publication title -
journal of clinical psychology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.124
H-Index - 119
eISSN - 1097-4679
pISSN - 0021-9762
DOI - 10.1002/jclp.22261
Subject(s) - psychology , conflict resolution , perspective (graphical) , developmental psychology , conflict resolution strategy , conflict management , social psychology , presentation (obstetrics) , family conflict , dispute resolution , child custody , criminology , political science , medicine , artificial intelligence , computer science , law , radiology
There is a small but significant number of parents who remain stuck in a high level of conflict with each other after the legal conclusion of their divorce. Exposure to chronically high levels of parental conflict is a strong risk factor negatively affecting both children's short‐ and long‐term adjustment. Parenting coordination is a nonadversarial, child‐focused dispute‐resolution process designed to help divorced parents contain their conflict to protect children from its negative effect. Parenting coordination is a hybrid role combining different skills and conflict‐resolution approaches. In high‐conflict divorce, each parent's internalization of relationship patterns constructed from past experiences contributes to the intractable nature of the interparent conflict. A case presentation illustrates how this clinical perspective enhances the parenting coordinator's ability to work with parents to manage and contain their parenting conflicts with each other.