Family Resiliency Program - child development, child discipline, children education, children needs, children self-worth, children socialization, coparenting, coparent, coparents, custody, divorce, divorce agreement, marriage therapy, divorce therapy, nonadversarial, parent plan, parent plans, parent conflict, parenting plan, parent skills, renegotiation, separation, single parent, single parents, visitation, collaborative, child academic or psychological difficulties

Making a decision to separate or divorce or leave a relationship with an adult where there have been children is a very difficult experience. Often, one parent may not have wanted to separate; that parent may be holding on to the child for fear of losing the child, too. However, once parents learn about NFRC's Child and Family Focused process for decision making, they defuse their anger and see that each parent can actively and lovingly remain involved with their children and work on fostering a constructive co parent relationship.

What is co parent consultation?
Co parent consultation brings parents who are no longer in an adult relationship with each other together to learn how to communicate about their children and to develop a parent agreement that can become a blue print to guide parents with each child.

What distinguishes NFRC co parent consultation and parent planning?
NFRC staff are child development experts who will not remain neutral when it comes to the best interests of the child.

NFRC staff work with parents to discuss one child at a time. This means that each child's psychological, intellectual, interpersonal and safety and security needs are discussed, and parenting for each aspect of development is agreed upon.

Since there is an emphasis on child development, parents eventually understand that needs change developmentally and thus, parenting as well. For example, an 8 year old may love to play Monopoly with a parent over a weekend; however, that same child at age 12 or 13, may not want their friends to see them with their parents in a public place but enjoy having time with parents to watch a movie together. Therefore, modification of the parent plan based on children’s ongoing developmental needs is included in the parent plan as appropriate.

Can one of the co parents request an individual session with the co parent facilitator?
The client couple are the clients; therefore, if one partner of the couple requests an individual meeting with the NFRC staff member who has been working with the co parents, the other partner needs to agree, be aware of the appointment, agree to the appointment and have the same opportunity for an appointment as well.

Can I turn the parent agreements in to legal document?
Yes, this is certainly possible. However, anything that becomes part of your legal agreement needs to go through proper legal channels. NFRC counselors are not attorneys and NFRC does not employ any attorneys.

It depends on how many children the parents have, how many special needs are involved and if time is needed to speak with other professionals working with the family and then with the co parents to work out as specific a model as possible.