A Child Specialist Provides Tremendous Guidance On The Collaborative Team
On a collaborative team involving a family with minor children, a Child Specialist can be an invaluable addition. Child Specialists are specially trained collaborative mental health professionals whose specific job on the team is to give a voice to the children. Unlike a Coach, who primarily focuses on the parents, the Child Specialist works directly with the children providing them a safe space in the family transition and a seat at the collaborative table.
The Child Specialist meets with the kids and forms a relationship as a messenger for their best interest in the process. He or she talks with them about their goals, concerns, fears, anxieties and general feelings about the divorce and the changes occurring. Most often, those discussions will be helpful in working with the parents to formulate parenting plans and times. With a wealth of experience dealing with families and children in their practices, the Child Specialists provide a tremendous compass for the team when navigating the parental decision making and parenting time discussions that can often times become difficult and emotional.
Dr. Beth Wilner provides fantastic insight into the role of the Child Specialist in the 6th edition of the Collaborative Resolution Podcast:https://collaborativeresolutionproject.com/2019/02/08/crp-6-the-child-specialist-in-the-collaborative-process/