an australian example of therapeutic post-separation family mediation

An Australian example of therapeutic post-separation family mediation

International Commission on Couple and Family Relationships 2014

The Parental Regard model:

Bill Hewlett Clinical Services Specialist, Post-Separation PracticeRelationships Australia NSW

Amelia Wheeler Research Officer, Relationships Australia NSWPhD Candidate, University of New South Wales

www.nsw.relationships.com.au

About Us

At Relationships Australia we assist parents and care givers in the formation of a parental alliance so their children can thrive.

Relationships Australia offers counselling, mediation, dispute resolution, relationship education, early intervention services, community support, employee assistance programs and professional training from more than 150 centres nationally.

Our education and training division, the Australian Institute for Relationship Studies (AIRS), is recognised as a centre of teaching excellence and is supported by our research and clinical practice expertise.


Context

Legislation

•No fault divorce included in the Family Law Act (1975)

•Major amendments to the Act in 2006 (‘Shared Care’ Amendments)

•Compulsory to attend mediation prior to Family Court

•Judges directed to consider ‘substantial and significant time’ with each parent

•Amendments represented a significant shift in the way separation and divorce was managed by the Government

•Transfer from the Family Court to the Human Services sector resulted in the establishment of Family Relationship Centres across Australia. Relationships Australia NSW manages six centres.


Policy narratives

• United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (1989) – a significant influence on policy and organisational ideology in Australia

• ‘Best interests’ of the child – a legal term used in Australian legislation, however the definition is subjective. Child Inclusive process utilised in the Family Relationship Centres

• Evaluation research with separated families shows that the family form is not so important, but ongoing conflictbetween parents affects child wellbeing


Family Relationship Centre Standard Process

Standard ProcessParent Contact –parent A contacts the Centre

Family Advisor – parent A sees Family Advisor for 1.5hr sessionFamily Advisor – Family Advisor invites parent B to an individual 1.5hr session (optional)

A Certificate enabling a Parent to go to Family Court can be issued at any time by the Family Dispute Resolution Practitioner

Educational groupPre-mediationJoint session/s

Additional sessionsChildren’s sessionFeedbackFurther joint sessions


Clients

Client profile

•Children and wellbeing

Around 25% of children whose parents separate will experience mental health issues (compared with 12% from families that never separate) Sawyer et al, 2000; Kelly & Emery, 2003; McIntosh, Wells & Long, 2007

•Domestic violence and high conflict between parents

72% of fathers and 75% of mothers surveyed experiencing domestic violence accessed the Family Law system in 2011. DeMaio et al, 2012


Theoretical Considerations

Attachment Theory

‘What we get exclusively from the family is love, and the capacity to form intimate attachments... Emotional security does not lead inexorably to good character or good citizenship, but insecurity interferes with the formation of every social connection… It increases the chance that we will react to others with avoidance, fear, anger and hostility.’ Rosenblum, 1995


Amendments to the Family Law Act (2006)


Signalled a shift towards supporting separated parents through the use of dispute resolution and conflict management, and away from court.


Family Relationship Centres


Managed by non-government organisations, these centres are based

in the community and include case management, parenting seminars, referrals to counselling and group

programs, and the provision of no-cost family dispute resolution.


Towards Cooperation away from litigation


•Many of the disputes over children following separation are driven primarily by relationship problems, rather than legal ones (Kaspiew, et al., 2009).

•A major motivation for the reform to the family law system was the problem of the disappearance of fathers from their children’s lives after separation and divorce (Parkinson, 2006).


Best Interests of the Child


Research findings support the idea that the quality of

relationships between parents, as well as the relationship

between parents and children, matters for children's wellbeing (e.g. Amato & Gilbreth 1999).


A child has a relationship with the parent’s relationship. www.storyofneo.com.au


Attachment Theory

Impact of the FRCs


•In 2009, a study which reviewed the efficacy and impact of FRCs in Australia, found that approximately 40% of parents who used FDR services reached agreement and did not proceed to court. •There is evidence of fewer post-separation disputes being resolved via the use of legal services, and more disputes being resolved via the use of family relationship services.


Previously the primary focus was on a parenting agreement. Now, we focus on a parental alliance.


A shift in how a ‘good outcome’ is defined

Neurobiology

Our focus as children, on our short term survival, has superseded attention to all long term maintenance. This is akin to burning the furniture to survive a freezing winter. Louis Cozolino

It is important to understand that the brain altered in destructive ways by neglect and trauma can also be altered in reparative, healing ways. Bruce Perry

www.storyofneo.com.au


The Social brain, given the opportunity, is always happy to help resolve a distressing relational situation, willingly providing data for insight and reflection.


Cortico-Hippocampal help

Unfortunately evolution has not seen fit to invest much neural circuitry into self-awareness. Louis Cozolino

www.storyofneo.com.au


Evolutionary theory


Facilitating the creation of neural pathways

Not enough stress Too much stress

Ideal learning

environment


Fast and slow circuits


Key structures of the brain impacted by trauma

‘J’ Curve


The ‘J Curve’ Model

Dumb and curious form of enquiry to elicit information of intent, impact and effect on others.

A Attunement

E Engagement and Empathy

I Intent and Impact

O What do others see?

U What else could you do?


Contact us

Relationships Australia NSWwww.nsw.relationships.com.au

Australian Institute of Relationship Studies (AIRS) Training and Research Division

www.airs.edu.au

The Story of Neowww.storyofneo.com.au

Bill [email protected]

Amelia [email protected]


an australian example of therapeutic post-separation family mediation

Documents

family relationships

family form

family courtjudges

family law act

family law system

relationship education

centrefamily advisor

parent b