CALL FOR PRESENTERS: "Maintaining Civility Through Conflict:
Effectively Managing the Adversarial Process Without Acrimony"
We are accepting proposals for 1 1/2 and 2 hour Workshops and 4 hour Institutes. CALL FOR PRESENTERS IS NOW CLOSED.
It is broadly recognized that civility has been eroding in our courts, as well as in society at large. The practice of family law can be a particularly volatile area, which continues to present unique challenges for judges, attorneys, and mental health professionals. Social media and the anonymity of the internet have only increased these challenges. Working in the adversarial family law system can bring out the worst not only in the litigants but in the professionals with whom they interact. Adding to a COVID pandemic that just won’t go away are strains on families resulting from rapid increases in the costs of living and economic uncertainty, persistent political and racial turmoil, vast changes in our climate and an increasingly polarized red and blue nation. These factors have compounded the difficulties we face as family law and mental health professionals.
AFCC California continues to seek to add new voices to our exceptional panels and is looking to create a culture of mentorship not only in the field but at the annual conference by inviting seasoned presenters to pair with less experienced ones. We also invite professionals representing traditionally under-represented populations (e.g. people of color, LGBTQ+ people) and those outside of family law to submit proposals. AFCC-CA further seeks to broaden AFCC-CA’s reach into underserved communities and invites presenters to add content that is focused on racial, ethnic, gender, LGBTQ+, and socio-economic diversity.
With the foregoing in mind, the focus of the 2023 California conference – aims at:
- Cutting edge and creative solutions to the increasingly difficult times in which we practice.
- Opportunities for engagement and partnerships with other professionals (e.g., police, physicians, clergy) who are the first to be involved with domestic abuse, a deteriorating adult relationship, or inappropriate parental practices.
- Examining alternative interventions and therapies for issues ranging from resist-refusal issues to mental health issues to unique and challenging treatment of alcohol, drug and other addictions to dealing with the epidemic of domestic violence and other conditions which impact the ability to parent children.
- Engaging conference participants in the exchange of ideas and practices.
- Developing practices to protect professionals from burnout.
WORKSHOPS can be either 90 or 120 minutes, INSTITUTES are 4 hours, and topics may include, but are not limited to:
- Access to Justice and Serving the Needs of Underserved Communities
- Cultural Diversity Issues in Family Law
- The Voices of Children – In and Out of the Courtroom
- Intimate Partner Violence – Definition and Treatment
- Assessing Allegations of Child Sexual Abuse
- Innovations in Family Dispute Resolution Outside of Court
- Parent-Child Relations and Gender Identity Issues
- Unique Issues in Blended Families
- Challenges in International and Interstate Custody Disputes
- New Treatments for Addiction – Drug, Alcohol, Sex and Other Maladies
- Using – and Challenging – Research in Family Law Courts
- Mental Health for Lawyers, Judges and Mental Health Professionals – Keeping Your Cool When Everyone Else is Losing Their’s
- New Tools and Educational Innovations
- Effective Means and Techniques for Mediating Family and Custody Dispute
- Child Custody Evaluation, Minor’s Interviews and Related Assessment Methods, Benefits and Limitations
- Artificial Intelligence and the Courts in Family Law Matters
- Bench Officer Training
- Community Alliances – Mental Health Professionals Working with Hospitals, Schools, Religious Centers and Places of Worship, School Administrators and Teachers and Law Enforcement
- Intersection of Faith and Law
- Compassionate Child Custody Evaluations
- The Case for Reviewing Experts (EC 733) Consultations: Maintaining Neutrality
Download the Call For Presenters PDF for full submission guidelines and instructions.