Bridging Parental Conflict®

The Bridging Parental Conflict® class is a one-time, 6.5-hour, online educational experience developed for parents who have sustained conflict with their co-parent, for parents who are just beginning the transition to a co-parenting relationship, and for other adults with relationships to the children, for example, stepparents, grandparents, and legal guardians.

Bridging Parental Conflict was designed to assist parents in managing themselves in the conflict, developing effective co-parenting, and providing security, significance, belonging to their children.

When parents are in conflict, or when co-parenting is a struggle, parents often observe troubling behavior changes in their children. In other words, children become “symptomatic,” experiencing: anxiety, increases in behavior problems, increases in somatic (physical) complaints, decreases in social activities, problems related to school, alignment with one parent against the other (“alienation”), or in some cases, self harm. The behavior issues may be the children’s response to their parents’ conflict.

Bridging Parental Conflict is for parents who would like to learn to disengage from the conflict, and especially for parents whose children are responding symptomatically. The class is helpful for parents who are just entering the process of divorce, even if they have not experienced conflict. And for other adults who experience the parents’ conflict or are involved in some way.

Bridging Parental Conflict addresses:

• Children in the middle of parental conflict
• Causes and effects – Parental conflict from a child’s perspective
• The effects of conflict on the family system
• How families become stuck in conflict
• Child development
• Identity – Fundamental requirements of co-parenting that support child adjustment
• Building and maintaining Parental Leadership to support children

Techniques used in class:

• Group instruction
• Instructor role plays
• Open discussion
• Question and answer

This program utilizes a safe and directive teaching approach to guide parents through a positive, engaging experience. Parents are given the necessary tools to begin changing the current co-parental relationship, with an eye toward building effective parental leadership.

Class instructors bring years of experience in co-parenting instruction and coaching, family therapy, marriage counseling, child and adolescent therapy, and parent-child resist/refuse problems.

The class does not require it be attended on the same date as your co-parent.