Co-parenting can become especially difficult when one parent experiences the other parent’s behavior as controlling, restrictive, or consistently interfering with their ability to participate in parenting decisions. In these situations, the phrase coercive control may come up frequently. However, identifying a coercive control pattern is not simply about collecting examples of conflict or describing a difficult co-parent. Meaningful documentation requires looking beyond individual...

Children do not need to hear their parents arguing to be affected by parental conflict. Sometimes the most significant psychological impact happens quietly, through the emotional positions a child begins to occupy within the family system. A child may learn to monitor a parent's mood before talking about the other parent, edit what they share about their time in the other household, or feel responsible for keeping one parent from feeling hurt. None of these experiences necessarily involve an...

Can my co-parent control what I do on my custody days? It is a question that often comes from a much deeper place than simply wondering whether you can take your child to a certain restaurant, visit family, choose an activity, or establish a particular routine. For many separated parents, the real question is whether they are still expected to answer to their former partner for how they exercise their role as a parent. When every decision is questioned, every activity requires an explanation,...