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Court Involved Therapist Training
August 27, 2021 at 9:00 am - October 2, 2021 at 4:00 pm PDT
$500.00 – $1,200.00
August 27 and 28 | September 17 and 18 | October 1 and 2
Novato, California
In-person attendance is strongly preferred, but there is an option to attend online. If you would like to attend the virtual training, please select the online training ticket at the bottom of this page.
9 AM to 4 PM with breaks and lunch provided
Registration fee: $1,200
Effective interventions throughout the divorce process, including pre-divorce, post-divorce, co-parenting plans, custody schedules, and custody and co-parenting dispute resolution.
This 36-hour Court Involved Therapists course will train you to meet the qualifications of the Association of Family and Conciliations Courts (AFCC) Court-Involved Therapy guidelines.
Participants are required to have completed their COVID-19 vaccinations at least two weeks prior to the start of this program or provide proof of a negative test within 24 hours prior to the start of training. In-person attendance is strongly encouraged. However, if you are unable to travel and are interested in attending remotely, please contact the Registration Manager for more information.
To register, scroll to the bottom of this page.
Download event flyer.
Sponsors
AFCC-CA (Association of Family and Conciliation Courts California Chapter)
The Family Law Steering Committee of the Sonoma County Bar Association
This training is recommended by the Steve Frankel Group
About the training
Mental Health professionals face numerous challenges when working with high-conflict families navigating the legal system. Specially trained “Court Involved Therapists” (CITs) are desperately needed to serve this rapidly growing mental health population. Well-trained CITs are a critical support for families trying to successfully navigate the complex world of the family law court system, including child custody cases. Inappropriate treatment, from an inadequately trained therapist, may escalate family conflict and cause significant damage. On the other hand, specialized training and interventions that incorporate the latest research and best practices can maximize the outcome for all family members. An effective Court Involved Therapist, who is trained to maintain a forensic mindset and to collaborate with multi-disciplinary professionals, can make all the difference in these often contentious divorce disputes.
This Court Involved Therapist training program curriculum will address:
- Family Law overview for Mental Health Professionals, Professional Guidelines
- Mediation, Collaboration and Litigation
- What happens in Court, communicating with the Courts/attorneys, subpoenas/requests for letters/ declarations and testifying in Court, working with Minors Counsel, Legal, and Ethical Requirements for the Court Involved Therapist
- Co-parent Counseling, High Conflict Co-parenting, High Conflict Personalities
- Forensic Clinical Interviewing children in the legal process
- Resist/Refuse cases, Reunification Counseling and Family Therapy
- Family interventions – reoccurring themes in Court Involved Work
- Supervised Visitation and Therapeutic Supervised Visitation
- Intimate Partner Violence: addressing safety, arrival/departure protocols
- Addressing child, drug and alcohol abuse in Parenting Plans
- Parenting Coordinator and Private Child Custody Recommending Counselor
- Overview of child custody evaluations
- Special needs children in Family Court Processes
Who should attend this training?
- Mental health professionals
- Licensed Marriage and Family Therapists
- Psychologists
- Licensed Therapists
- Licensed Social Workers
- Interns in training
This intensive course will provide you with a certification of completion and the ability to begin Court Involved work. It is recommended that once you begin your court involved work that you seek the services of a consultant/collogues as needed.
Required text for training
Greenberg, L.R., Fidler, B.J. & Saini, M.A. (Eds.) (2019). Evidence-informed interventions for court-involved families: Promoting healthy coping and development. New York, Oxford University Press
Continuing Education Credits
The Center for Understanding in Conflict is approved by the California Psychological Association to provide continuing professional education for psychologists. The Center for Understanding in Conflict maintains responsibility for this program and its content. BBS licensees may also receive credit from The Center for Understanding in Conflict as a provider approved by the California Psychological Association. This course qualifies for 36 CE credits.
Faculty
Elizabeth Crenshaw, LMFT a Licensed Marriage Family Therapist for 26 years. The past ten years, in her private practice, she specializes in Court Involved Therapy for divorcing and separating families. Conducting Reunification Counseling, Co-Parenting Counseling and Child/ Family Counseling. Collaborating with a team of professionals is an essential factor in Elizabeth’s approach. Elizabeth was the Director of several Boston and Bay Area non-profit programs: teen programs, Suicide Crisis Center, Domestic Violence Program for Families, and the Training Clinic. Elizabeth is currently the Chair of the Mental Health Liaison Committee, a sub-committee of the Sonoma County Bar Association’s Family Law Section, and previously served as the Chair for three years in the past. In 2013, Elizabeth was awarded the Pro Bono award by the Sonoma County Bar Association.
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Dana Schneider, LMFT is a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist and Lecturer Emeritus from Sonoma State University. In addition to 41 years of clinical experience working with families, she has extensive training and experience in the field of divorcing families. Experience includes Parent Coordinator, Private Child Custody Recommending Counselor, Reunification Therapist, and High Conflict Co-parent Counseling. She has served as the Chair of the Mental Health Liaison Committee a sub-committee of the Sonoma County Bar Associations Family Law Section. Dana co-authored an article in the Journal of Divorce and Remarriage entitled “Children’s Ability to Cope Post Divorce: The Effects of Kids’ Turn Intervention Program on 7–9 Year Old’s.” In 2012 Dana was awarded the Rex Sater award for Excellence in Family Law and in 2013 the Pro Bono award by the Sonoma County Bar Association.
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Additional Faculty
Randy Cheek, LMFT is a licensed Marriage and Family Therapist who has been in private practice in Petaluma since 1983. His specialties have included family systems therapy, couples therapy and divorce related counseling. Additionally Randy specializes in co-parenting counseling, reunification counseling and mediation regarding children’s issues in divorce. Since 2001, he has been active in the Collaborative Process in Sonoma County. He is a past president of the Board of Directors of the Collaborative Council of the Redwood Empire (CCRE) and a member of the Board of Directors of CPCal, and Randy is a past president of CPCal.
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Jeffrey Kahn, PhD, has been a Licensed Psychologist in Sonoma County since 1980. Jeff has worked with separating and divorcing families, as a child psychologist, a child custody evaluator, family therapist, co-parent counselor, individual therapist and mediator. He also spent twenty years as a psychologist in the Psychiatry Department at Kaiser Permanente Medical Center in Santa Rosa, CA where he provided individual therapy, developed and implemented group treatment programs for PTSD, OCD and anxiety, and co-led DBT and depression treatment groups for adults. Jeff co-authored “Settlement-Focused Parenting Plan Consultations: An Evaluative Mediation Alternative to Child Custody Evaluations,” which appeared in the January 2011 Family Court Review. He has also presented a number of times to local attorneys and therapists on topics such as Divorce and Trauma, Identifying and Helping Clients with Personality Disorders, and Helping Families with Children Who Refuse and Resist Contact with a Parent. He has been a member of the Mental Health Liaison Committee of the Sonoma County Bar Association for the past six years.
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Daniel B. Pickar, PhD, ABPP is board-certified child psychologist who conducts child custody evaluations, mediation, consultation to family law attorneys, and psycho-educational evaluations of children. He received his undergraduate education at Brown University and completed his Ph.D. in clinical psychology at the California School of Professional Psychology at Berkeley. For 12 years, he served as the Chief of Child and Family Psychiatry at Kaiser Permanente in Santa Rosa, California, as well as served as the Director of Postdoctoral Training in Clinical Psychology for 5 years. He has published numerous journal articles and book chapters in the areas of child custody evaluation, mediation, special needs children in divorce, and served on the editorial board of the Journal of Child Custody for 6 years. He regularly presents workshops at state and national AFCC and AAML conferences and currently serves on the Board of Directors of the Association of Family and Conciliation Courts. In 2019, he was honored with the Judge Rex Sater Award by the Sonoma County Bar Association for his outstanding contributions to family law in Sonoma County.
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Kate Robey, LMFT is a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist specializing in separation and divorce issues. She has a thriving private practice in Santa Rosa, CA helping children and their parents. Kate’s back ground and clinical experience is in child psychotherapy. Working with diverse children and adolescents in several non-profit clinics for the past 12 years, Kate is highly trained in play therapy and treating childhood trauma. Above all, Kate enjoys talking and listening to children. She has a special interest in high conflict cases and seeks out creative problem solving with a kind but firm approach. She also enjoys the role of clinical supervisor and trainer. Kate has presented at the Sonoma County Bar Association Minor’s Counsel trainings, at Collaborative Practice meetings in Sonoma and San Francisco, and at the Mental Health Liaison Brown Bag trainings for the Bar Association. She was also chair of the Mental Health Liaison Committee from 2018-2019. Kate presented at American Family Conciliatory Courts (AFCC) conference in 2016. Kate is passionate about helping each individual child succeed. Her belief and goal in reunification cases is that children deserve to have a functional relationship with both parents.
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Jennifer Santos, LMFT is a licensed Marriage and Family Therapist and received her MA in Counseling Psychology with an emphasis in Marriage and Family Therapy from the University of San Francisco. Ms. Santos is in private practice and specializes in high –conflict divorce cases. Her specialties include Parent Coordination, Co-Parent Counseling, Reunification Counseling and Individual Counseling. Ms. Santos is proud to served as chair of the Mental Health Liason Committee. Other memberships include The Association of Family and Conciliation Courts as well as the California Association of Marriage and Family Therapists.
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Location and Accommodation
The course will be held over six dates, August 27-28, September 17-18, and October 1-2 from 9 AM until 4 PM each day.
All sessions will be held at the Novato Oaks Inn in Novato, California (215 Alameda del Prado, Novato, CA 94949). In-person attendance is strongly preferred, but there is an option to attend online. If you would like to attend the virtual training, please select the online training ticket when registering at the bottom of this page.
Participants who would like to stay overnight can book through the hotel and will receive a discounted rate. To make a reservation, call the hotel at (415) 883-4400 or (800) 625-7466 and ask for the “Court Involved Therapists Training” block.
For the August sessions, accommodation must be booked by July 27th to receive the discount. For the September sessions, the booking deadline is August 27th and for the October sessions, the deadline is September 1st.