Bruising legislative battles and professional polarization have increased obstacles to getting quality mental health care for children. Misinformation, poorly defined or misused professional terminology, and dynamics of the adversarial system, have left some judicial officers unclear as to what they can order and how to assess whether services are meeting the families’ needs. Existing shortage of mental health professionals are compounded by a lack of knowledge, the challenges and opportunities of working with these vulnerable children and families. The dynamics of litigation often causes concern among MHPs who do not have access to mentorship or professional practice resources. MHPs may fear involvement in our cases due to liability risks and lack of support. he good news is that effective therapeutic approaches exist, and appropriately crafted orders can provide both direction and support to service providers. Our interdisciplinary panel will address these challenges and provide practical strategies for addressing these issues.

Learning Objectives:

  • Participants will be able to identify three terms commonly used in describing high conflict families and accurate definitions of each.
  • Participants will be able to identify three approaches for promoting quality services to children at the center of conflict.
  • Participants will be able to identify two possible approaches to supporting new practitioners in our field while promoting quality service.