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Group interventions for separated parents in entrenched conflict: An exploration of evidence-based frameworks
Jennifer McIntosh
Senior Consultant and Director, Family Transitions; Director, Children-in-Focus Program, Australian Institute for Primary Care, La Trobe University; Adjunct Associate Professor, School of Public Health, La Trobe University, VIC
Helena B Deacon-Wood
Children-in-Focus, Australian Institute for Primary Care, La Trobe University, VIC
Abstract
This paper explores the nature of enduring postseparation conflict between parents; it looks to a growing body of research around group interventions designed to help parents move on from entrenched dispute, toward a more constructive coparenting relationship, in the interests of their children.
Interventions range from traditional education approaches to therapeutic and treatment oriented models.
Evidence regarding the impact of specific interventions is reviewed, and while encouraging, the need for more flexible, differentiated models emerges. Simultaneously, attention is drawn to the need for increased research activity in this burgeoning area of dispute resolution.
Keywords
children, divorce, parental conflict, parent education
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