What does a Child Specialist do in a Collaborative Divorce?

Guest Post Introduction: Dr. Allison J. Bell, Psy.D. has been in private practice in Westchester County, N.Y. since 1987 and is specialty-trained in child-psychology, neuropsychological evaluation of children and marital therapy. For the past fifteen years, Dr. Bell has performed forensic custody evaluation in both Family and Supreme Courts in the southern New York State region. Dr. Bell serves as both a Divorce Coach and a neutral Child Specialist on Interdisciplinary practice teams and is a member of the Massachusetts Collaborative Law Council. Dr. Bell wrote the following guest post for us regarding:

THE CHILD SPECIALIST IN COLLABORATIVE DIVORCE

By Allison J. Bell, PsyD.

The Collaborative Divorce process is unique amongst methods of obtaining a divorce in that it offers the opportunity for children to express their needs and viewpoints to their parents, through a professional conduit, the Child Specialist.

Who is a Child Specialist, what does that person do, and why is it beneficial to families to have a Child Specialist as part of the Collaborative Divorce Team?

Child Specialists are licensed mental health professionals who are trained in mediation and collaborative divorce practice. They are practitioners who also have training and experience in child development, family systems and divorce counseling.

The Child Specialist is often brought into the process when issues surface regarding the development of a Parenting Plan, and when parents want to know more about how their children are faring during the process. Ideally, when attorneys know that there will be problems to be solved regarding children, the Child Specialist is part of the Team from the outset.

Divorce is a phenomenon that occurs in relationships between adults. Children bear the fallout of divorce, and often find themselves placed squarely in the center of their parents’ disputes. They may be totally blindsided by the announcement of divorce, or may have expected it all along, but either way, they have something to say about it.

The outcome research on the adjustment of children of divorce strongly suggests that children believe they are not heard, seen or considered adequately in their parents’ process. They specifically tell researchers that they suffer from being in the dark, from having too little meaningful information, and from being unable to have a voice about the outcome. It is not that they see themselves as equal decision makers; they don’t. Children simply want parents to acknowledge that the adult decision to divorce has a direct, long-term impact on kids.

The Child Specialist functions as a Neutral member of a Collaborative Divorce Team, consulting to both the parents and the team members. The Child Specialist is the only team member who sees everyone in the family, and therefore has the unique opportunity to shed light on that family’s particular dynamics.

The Child Specialist begins by meeting with both parents in order to learn about the children, from a neutral perspective. The Child Specialist then meets with the children, together and individually, and offers them an opportunity to express their needs and concerns about the divorce. These meetings also help the children learn more about the divorce process and create a safe space for their emotional experience. It helps them to recognize when/if they are being put in the middle, and may offer them tools to be able to extricate themselves from this position.

The Child Specialist provides feedback to the parents in a five-way meeting with the Coach present. This way, the parents and the Coach hear the same information and have an opportunity to ask questions that may be relevant to developing the Parenting Plan. If children are in distress, the Child Specialist may make referrals for treatment or evaluation as needed. The Child Specialist’s perspective can help alleviate conflicts pertaining to the children, and allows the parents to consider post-divorce parenting with the voices of their children center-stage.

Besides an Attorney, what professionals might be involved in my Divorce case?

In a litigated divorce, you will often have the need to involve experts to clarify certain issues, and in some instances to testify.  These can include appraisers, brokers, financial valuation or vocational experts, mental health practitioners, GALs, and parent coordinators.  Whether or not a professional is needed to assist will depend on the issues in your case.  For example, if the parties can agree on the value of real estate than an appraiser would not be needed, but if they can't then a real estate appraiser will be needed to evaluate the value of the asset and potentially testify if the other party disagrees.

The Collaborative Divorce process typically includes a team approach to divorce which utilizes specialized professionals to assist the attorneys.  There are many instances where another professional can assist in moving a case forward and reduce the cost spent on attorney's time.  Here are just some of the types of other professionals that might be involved:

Coach:  Attorneys are not trained to deal with mental health issues, which can range from dealing with the emotional loss in a divorce to dealing with mental illness or personality disorders. A Divorce Coach is a mental health professional that participates in the Collaborative process. In some models the Divorce Coach is only called upon when needed, like a therapist. But the trend is towards involving the neutral Divorce Coach (or in some instances two Divorce Coaches, one for each party) in every step of the process. The Divorce Coach can help the parties deal with their individual emotions that stem from the loss of their marriage, the process of the divorce, and other underlying past issues. In addition, the Divorce Coach can help the parties form a parenting plan and discuss the child related issues in a more constructive manner than the custody/visitation legal context. For more information on the role of a Collaborative Coach read a previous Guest Post: What Does a Collaborative Law Coach do?

Child Specialist: Sometimes the process may also include a Child Specialist, i.e. a mental health professional involved in the case for the sole purpose of helping the parties understand what the children are going through as a result of the divorce, and how to help them. For more information on the role of a Child Specialist read a previous Guest Post: What does a Child Specialist do in a Collaborative Divorce?

Financial Planners:  In cases where the parties could use assistance gathering and understanding their finances and budgets, a financial planner (often a Certified Divorce Financial Analyst) can assist the parties with these issues as a neutral.  Oftentimes, they will also provide potential scenarios showing the different options for support orders or property division and how those different options will affect each party's net worth in the future.  This information and assistance can be very helpful in assisting parties in reaching settlements.

Experts: In a Collaborative case, an expert opinion may still be helpful, and any expert that might be hired in a litigation case could also be hired jointly in a Collaborative case to provide an expert opinion to both parties.  For example a real estate appraiser can be jointly hired by the parties in a collaborative case if they don't know or can't agree on the value of an real property asset.  These experts could include appraisers, bankruptcy attorneys, business valuation experts, etc.

Although there is a cost involved in using any additional professional to assist in moving your divorce case forward, their expertise is cases where they are necessary usually saves time and money that would have been wasted otherwise.