PERTH When the Family Fractures: Working Confidently with Separated Families in Clinical Practice

A 1-Day Intensive for Mental Health Professionals

Is This You?

• You feel uncertain when separation dynamics emerge in individual therapy
• Your admin team is overwhelmed by high-needs separated parents
• You struggle with managing consent issues and parent involvement
• You worry your therapeutic recommendations might complicate legal matters
• You’re unsure when to take on these cases and when to refer
• Your between-session workload with these clients is unsustainable

Let Me Resource You With:

• Clear protocols for managing consent, documentation, and parent involvement
• Practical strategies for maintaining therapeutic boundaries
• Understanding of how separation impacts child development and attachment
• Tools to identify red flags and know when to refer
• Procedures to reduce administrative burden
• Confidence in providing court-appropriate documentation
• Methods to structure sessions and manage between-session contact
• Tools to maintain therapeutic effectiveness while protecting yourself professionally

Why This Training is Essential:

Separation affects a significant proportion of our client base, yet most practitioners receive minimal training in managing these complex dynamics. This workshop fills critical knowledge gaps, helping you work more effectively while protecting your time, energy, and professional well-being.

This Workshop Is Ideal For:

• Psychologists
• Mental Health Social Workers
• Counsellors
• Mental Health Nurses
• Any mental health professional working with adults or children affected by separation

You’ll Leave Knowing:

✓ Exactly when you need both parents’ consent (and when you don’t)

✓ How to prevent being triangulated

✓ Which cases to accept and which to refer

✓ How to protect yourself legally while maintaining therapeutic effectiveness

✓ Practical ways to manage the administrative load and be appropriately remunerated

✓ Evidence-based interventions that work in separated family contexts

Why Train With Me?

I’m a Clinical Psychologist and Co=Parenting Coach who has spent over two decades working with separated families, turning complex dynamics into workable solutions. My journey has led me to create The Same Mountain and Co-Parenting Companion, where I’ve developed evidence-based frameworks that help transform high-conflict situations into manageable co-parenting relationships.

My approach weaves together ACT, Compassion-Focused Therapy, and ProSocial principles with practical strategies drawn from extensive experience across:

• Expert witness testimony in Family Court proceedings
• Court-mandated therapy for separated families
• Child and adolescent mental health services
• Juvenile justice system intervention
• Perinatal mental health support
• Supporting neurodivergent children and their families

Based in WA, I regularly consult with mental health professionals nationwide on complex separated family cases. I’m known for my straight-talking, practical approach – taking complex clinical challenges and turning them into actionable solutions. In my training, I combine real-world experience with current research to help practitioners work confidently with separated families while maintaining sustainable practice boundaries.

My mission is simple: to help professionals like you develop the skills and confidence to work effectively with separated families, while preserving your own wellbeing in the process.

Be part of systemic change, supporting families in their time of greatest need – efficiently, effectively, and (importantly) without burning out.