Co-Parent Coaching offered by Jessica M. Ellingsworth, MCLC, Certified Family Mediator is a child-focused alternative dispute resolution process offered to co-parents that are either about to go through divorce/separation, are going through divorce/separation or have already divorced/separated in which a trained parental coach with expertise to assist high conflict parents to implement their parenting plan by facilitating the resolution of their disputes in a timely manner, educating parents about children's needs.
As much as we want to protect our children from life’s disappointments, divorce may be a part of their reality. Nonetheless, divorce is not as hard on children as constant parental conflict. What is important for your child’s healthy adjustment is effective co-parenting after divorce. If you and your ex continue to struggle with conflict, co-parenting sessions have proven to be effective for many.
For parents who continue to experience anger, distrust, or other difficulties in communicating about and cooperating in the care of their children, a Co-Parent Coach may help minimize the children's exposure to harmful parental conflict. Research has indicated that post-divorce parental conflict is the strongest predictor of maladjustment of children. Parental conflict impairs the parent-child relationship and models poor adult coping mechanisms for children. Certainly no loving parent wants these kind of negative outcomes for their children, however many parents become "stuck" repeating the conflict and dysfunction that led to the end of their romantic relationship. This hybrid role combines training from social sciences, child development, mediation, parent education, family law, family systems, and many other fields to address and resolve parental conflict.
The goal of the Co-Parent Coach is to help parents build a healthy, business-like relationship with each other so that their children are no longer subject to the negative effects of parental conflict. The specific needs of the children in question are discussed, rather than generic child development theory. In order to facilitate this process and understand what is happening with the children the Co-Parent Coach may meet with parents (both jointly and individually).
The goal of Co-Parent Coaching is to offer professional assistance to co-parents who need help learning to work together in order to keep their children from being exposed to parental conflict. It is also the goal to avoid chronic litigation, help parents comply with court orders, educate parents about their children's needs, reduce misunderstandings, resolve disputes and teach parents new and more effective ways to communicate.
It is important to note that the Parent Facilitator is a NEUTRAL third party. Their foremost goal is to reduce conflict. Parent Facilitation involves skills that are therapeutic but it is not therapy.
Co-Parenting Coaching occurs through structured programming lasting 8-10 sessions and upon successful completion the participant is given a certificate.
Cost is $200 per 60 min. session
We use cookies to analyze website traffic and optimize your website experience. By accepting our use of cookies, your data will be aggregated with all other user data.