Recognizing Risk: How to Identify Red Flags & Mitigate Harmful Impact to the Children, Whether You Work with Children or Not.
Thursday, January 18th
12-1:30 PM
By Zoom
How does “conflict” show up in your practice and how do you respond to it?
We all have cases that go sideways or seem stuck, in spite of our efforts or those of other professionals working with us on the same case. In cases involving kids and custody, factors may be at work that haven’t been clearly understood before we get too deep into the case. Most of us agree that reducing conflict is an important factor associated with an enduring, sustainable outcome for a family. Yet in collaborative as well as litigated custody matters, that factor may be leading us to be lulled by parents’ pleasant interaction styles where there is actually covert, more malignant conflict, often centered around parenting. Or, we may mistake civility between parents when conflict is actually being channeled through the kids. For some of us, our own tendency to avoid conflict and our personal discomfort with the experience of conflict or confrontation, may lead us to minimize the conflict in front of us. Doing so may saddle the kids, long after our intervention is over, with a life-long burden of disrupted bonds and future relationship problems. Long-term follow-up studies show us that for those children, the course of their development and capacity to form stable intimate relationships of their own may be negatively impacted.
Litigators, evaluators, treating mental health professionals, child specialists, parenting coordinators, collaborative attorneys, mediators and coaches, this is for you. The goal of this presentation is to heighten our awareness of how such risks may present in our work, whether we see children or not. Dr. Zena Polly will invite panelists from different professional roles to discuss practice-related questions regarding risk factors to children. The questions will be aimed at early recognition of risks, exploring red flags and accessing ways to interrupt potential harm.
Presenter: Zena Polly, Ph.D. is a psychologist specializing in work with couples, families and children. She was director of one of the earliest court-based divorce support programs for parents and children in the country. Her therapy practice has followed children through their parents’ divorce, whether the process was collaborative, litigated, or self-managed. For many years, she served on the Orange County, California Superior Court family law panel of experts, appointed to the roles of parent coordinator, child custody evaluator, co-parenting counselor and minors’ treating therapist. Her current work focuses on the interface and coordination between family law and family therapy.
Panelists will include:
Linda Larkin, a family law attorney whose practice currently includes mediation and parent coordination, among other roles. She has over 40 years of experience in family law. She has represented parties in dissolutions, modifications, and adoptions. In 2009 she was trained in, and added, Collaborative Family Practice to her Family Law work, and began parent coordination work in 2020. She has served on the Domestic Violence Advisory Committee of the Children’s Services Division for the State of Oregon. Currently, and she volunteers as a Settlement Conference Judge for Multnomah County.
Tobias Ryan, PsyD, is a psychologist who has worked with children and families in treatment centers and independent practice for over twenty years. In addition to psychological assessments in educational, vocational, and forensic settings, he has provided therapy for children, adults, couples, and families. His research has been on personality assessment, specifically the clinical use of the MMPI-2. Dr. Ryan has taught at the University of Portland for the last ten years.
Diane Gans is a Child Specialist who supports children’s process of grief and resilience within divorce and helps parents to create child centered practices that maintain peace within the family. She is currently teaching group counseling at Lewis and Clark College figuring which graduate students run groups with sixth graders in a local high-needs middle school. Diane has worked with children and their families for over 30 years in multiple roles: a fifth-grade teacher, a licensed therapist, a child specialist, and a professor of counseling psychology. She recently co-authored Strengthening Social Connections and Individual Resilience in Adolescence (https://routledge.pub/Strengthening-Social-Connections-and-Individual-Resilience-in-Adolescence).
Jean Linscott, PhD is a clinical psychologist in private practice who specializes in work with children, adolescents and families. She has worked in the greater Portland metropolitan area for the past 23 years. Part of her current practice is dedicated to court involved therapy work in the roles of family therapist and individual therapist for children or their parents. She appreciates the critical need for collaboration amongst clinical and legal professionals who are attempting to serve the best interests of children caught in the middle of parents’ complex divorces.
Lee Hamilton works as a mediator with families who need help in communication and co-parenting issues. She also works with the Oregon Education Association, mentoring new mediators. She serves on the OACP board and heads up the monthly education meeting committee. She is the co-host of this presentation.
ZOOM LINK
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/86782772158?pwd=Tk1jZ0o3MWxLcHFMWTM1S3ZrcytqUT09