Family First Reunification Program
If your family is experiencing a high conflict divorce, where the child(ren) are resisting or refusing contact with one parent, our Family First Reunification Program can help. These cases often involve parental estrangement, parental alienation, or a combination of both.
Parental estrangement is a family condition that is characterized by gradual distance in a parent-child relationship. Estrangement follows multiple unacknowledged or unresolved conflicts between a parent and a child where there are hurt feelings including betrayal and disappointment, which ultimately cause the children to cut off contact. The stress of a high conflict divorce can lead parents to behave in ways that exaggerate the estrangement issues.
Parental alienation is characterized by a child rejecting a parent when there is little or no justification to do so. In these cases, there has been no abuse or neglect of the children by the targeted parent. The child’s behaviour to vilify the disfavoured parent (and often their family) occurs as a result of the conscious and unconscious behaviours of the favoured parent. When a child is irrationally choosing to have a relationship with only one parent, timely help is important, as the longer this condition is allowed to occur the more difficult it is to alter.
High conflict divorce counselling services assist families to establish healthy parent-child relationships. Families participate by court order or consent order. Our therapeutic team has experience designing appropriate and customized treatment plans to address high conflict family dynamics.
High Conflict Divorce Counselling Program Services
Comprehensive interviews of all family members.
Thorough assessment identifying the factors contributing to the current family distress.
The development of a needs based intervention plan that is best suited to the family's unique dynamics, condition, and circumstances.
Counselling, education, support, and skill development.
Co-parenting, education, and planning.
On-going monitoring and follow-ups as required.
Expected Outcomes
Understanding of the multiple individual, relationship, and family dynamics causing the familial conflict.
A planned intervention that will minimize the impact of parental issues on the children.
Reduced family conflict, clearer boundaries, and increased balance among family members.
Healthier relationship patterning between parents and children.
Awareness, tools, and skills to maintain positive parent child relationships.
Mitigation of short and long-term effects pertaining to child development and needs.
Customized Intensives
In certain high conflict divorce cases, incremental family reunification counselling is insufficient to impact longstanding and entrenched family dynamics. In cases such as these, Cascadia designs and implements these four day offsite intensive interventions to reunify the disfavoured parent with their child or children. Historically, these programs have been done by a Consent Order between the parties.