Parenting Coordination (PC)
Parenting Coordination is professionally designed to help parents establish and maintain a healthy relationship by reducing parental conflict and the risk involved in post-divorce adjustment. Through the process of parenting coordination, the family's progress is monitored to ensure that parents are fullfilling their obligations to their child and complying with the court. A trained professional such as a psychotherapist works in collaboration with the courts to be a child advocate for the best interest of the child.
How does a Parenting Coordinator help parents?
- Parenting Coordinators aid high conflict parents in implementing their agreed upon and/or court ordered parenting plan. Parents with help of PC develop/implement a detailed plan for time sharing, holidays, discipline, decision-making, extracurricular activities and communication
- Parenting Coordinators facilitate conflict reduction strategies between the parents through co-parenting.
- Parents learn to shift their role from former spouses to co-parenting.
- Parents learn how to reduce emotional attachment and anger from the marital relationship to being co-parents.
- Parents learn to reduce the behavior of parent alienation.
- Parents learn to recognize the emotional impact they have onto their child.
- PC will make recommendations to the parents if needed concerning individual counseling, and/or family counseling.
- PC often work closely with other professional(Guardian ad litem, psychologist, mediators, mental health professionals) and attorneys.
How do children benefit from Parenting Coordination?
- PC is a child advocate
- PC helps reduce a child's stress since parental conflict reduces
- PC tries to get rid of child's loyalty binds
- PC teaches parents effective communication of which child will learn from
- PC brings about safety to a child by teaching parents better communication skills
- PC help parents raise children with confidence and self-esteem
Parenting Plan
A Parenting Coordinator can help create a parenting plan or can add, modify or make changes to an existing parenting plan already established.
Parenting plans are crucial in helping parents make important decisions such as:
- creating a regular time sharing schedule
- holiday schedule
- responsibilities towards their childs education
- discipline
- recreational activities
- medical and dental visits
- daily supervision
- on-going school activities
- clothing
- haircuts
- contact with extended family
- religion