Navigating Custody and Co-parenting: How to Support Your Client and Not Make Things Worse
Navigating Custody and Co-parenting: How to Support Your Client and Not Make Things Worse
June 12, 2026
12-1:00 PM
Live webinar by Zoom
Join a practical, practice-oriented one-hour discussion for mental health professionals: Navigating custody and co-parenting: How to support your client and not make things worse. Designed for mental health clinicians working in high/chronic-conflict cases that have an interface with the court system. We will examine common pitfalls that can unintentionally escalate conflict, including alignment with one parent, overreliance on labels, and interventions that outpace the available data. The discussion will also discuss how to conceptualize parental conflict, trauma responses, and patterns often described as “alienation.” Participants will leave with some practical strategies to reduce loyalty conflicts, maintain neutrality, and support better outcomes for children and families, all while avoiding well-intended interventions that can inadvertently escalate conflict, entrench positions, and make already complex family situations worse.
Learning Objectives
1.) Recognize common ways clinicians can unintentionally escalate high-conflict custody and co-parenting dynamics including premature alignment with one parent, overreliance on labels, and interventions that exceed the available data.
2.) Describe the importance of neutrality, role clarity, and caution when working with court-involved families.
3.) Identify practical strategies to maintain clinical neutrality, reduce child loyalty conflicts, and avoid interventions that may unintentionally escalate family conflict or entrench parental positions.
Presenter Bio
Diane A. Tennies, PhD, LADC has a state-wide private practice as a psychologist specializing in forensic evaluations and consultation in a variety of settings including in both civil and criminal courts. Since being licensed in 1998, she has evaluated hundreds of individuals and been qualified as an expert witness in District, Superior, and Probate Courts in Maine as well as Federal District Court for the State of Maine. She has been a rostered Guardian ad Litem in Maine since 1999.