THE POWER OF DIFFICULT CONVERSATIONS:

Interdisciplinary Approaches to Creating Connection, Compassion and Calm in Family Law

Our work in the field of family law, whether as judges, mental health professionals, attorneys, social workers, mediators or family court services providers, is full of difficult conversations: with colleagues, with the courts, with our clients, with ourselves. Moreover, and more importantly, the people we work with, who we see every day, who we help navigate this tricky terrain, are having difficult conversations with their spouses, partners, children, families, therapists, social workers, doctors, judges, attorneys and others. Perhaps most importantly, they and we are NOT having the sorts of conversations, difficult though they may be, that are necessary to facilitate healthy outcomes. We must find a way to have these conversations or we are doing a disservice to the families we serve. So how can we navigate these turbulent seas?

Our aim at this annual conference of the AFCC California Chapter is to explore the power of difficult conversations and how they can help create and strengthen relationships, even at their legal end. Difficult conversations can also lead to more empathy in our practices, in our client’s cases, and in their lives going forward. Finally, though uncomfortable or charged, difficult conversations can initiate greater clarity and peace of mind in ourselves and those with whom we work.

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presenters:

  • Ken Epstein

    Ken Epstein, Ph.D., LCSW, has… Read bio.

  • Thabiti Mtambuzi

    Thabiti Mtambuzi lives in Richmond,… Read bio.

  • Abby Abinanti

    Chief Judge of the Yurok… Read bio.

  • Shelly Averill

    The Honorable Shelly J. Averill… Read bio.

  • Jarin Beck

    Jarin Beck, Esq. has been… Read bio.

  • Angela Bissada

    Angela Bissada, Psy.D. is a… Read bio.

  • Michele Bissada

    Michèle M. Bissada, partner at… Read bio.

  • Brandon R. Blevans

    Brandon R. Blevans is a… Read bio.

  • Michele B. Brown

    Michele is a Certified Family… Read bio.

  • Leslie Drozd

    Leslie Drozd is a licensed… Read bio.

  • Kendall Lynn Evans

    Kendall Lynn Evans, Esq works… Read bio.

  • Tara M. Flanagan

    Judge Tara M. Flanagan joined… Read bio.

  • Bram Fridhandler

    Bram Fridhandler, PhD is a… Read bio.

  • Steven Friedlander

    Steven Friedlander, Ph.D. is a… Read bio.

  • Shuray Ghorishi

    Shuray Ghorishi is a senior… Read bio.

  • Donald A. Gordon

    Dr. Donald Gordon, has a… Read bio.

  • Lyn Greenberg

    Lyn R. Greenberg, Ph.D., ABPP,… Read bio.

  • Joni Hiramoto

    Judge Hiramoto, the first Asian… Read bio.

  • Mark A. Juhas

    Judge Mark A. Juhas sits… Read bio.

  • Stan Katz

    Stan J. Katz, Ph.D., is… Read bio.

  • Nancy Lemon

    Nancy K. D. Lemon has… Read bio.

  • John E. Leonard

    John Leonard, Ph.D. is the… Read bio.

  • Ellen Mauldin

    Ellen Mauldin, MFT, is a… Read bio.

  • Shawn McCall

    Shawn McCall, PsyD, Esq. is… Read bio.

  • Terry McNiff

    To help people facing or… Read bio.

  • Mindy Mechanic

    Dr. Mindy Mechanic is a… Read bio.

  • Nancy A. Nugent

    Nancy Nugent has been practicing… Read bio.

  • Daniel Pickar

    Daniel Pickar, Ph.D. is a… Read bio.

  • Cari Pines

    Cari M. Pines, CFLS, is… Read bio.

  • Karen A. Rhyne

    Karen A. Rhyne is a… Read bio.

  • Lawrence P. Riff

    Judge Lawrence P. Riff, Supervising… Read bio.

  • Gena Castro Rodriguez

    Dr. Gena Castro Rodriguez is… Read bio.

  • Robin Sax

    Robin Sax, JD and LCSW… Read bio.

  • Dana Schneider

    Dana Schneider, LMFT is a… Read bio.

  • Robert Schnider

    Hon. Robert A. Schnider (Ret.)… Read bio.

  • Shawna Schwarz

    Judge Shawna Schwarz received her… Read bio.

  • Leslie Ellen Shear

    Leslie Ellen Shear, CFLS, CALS,… Read bio.

  • Robert Simon

    Robert A. Simon, Ph.D. is… Read bio.

  • Jacqueline Singer

    Jacqueline Singer, PhD is a… Read bio.

  • Marjorie Slabach

    Marjorie Slabach, JD, is a… Read bio.

  • Matthew Sullivan

    Matthew J. Sullivan, Ph.D. was… Read bio.

  • Romy S. Taubman

    Romy S. Taubman is a… Read bio.

  • Arati Vasan

    Arati Vasan is a Senior… Read bio.

  • Kristina L. Vellucci-Cook

    Dr. Kristina Vellucci-Cook is a… Read bio.

  • Deborah Wald

    Deborah H. Wald is a… Read bio.

  • Julia Weber

    Julia Weber, Esq., MSW, is… Read bio.

  • Monica F. Wiley

    Judge Monica F. Wiley is… Read bio.

  • Beverly Wood

    Judge Beverly Wood serves on… Read bio.

  • Maria Young

    Maria Young is a court-involved… Read bio.

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