Save the Date! New Course on the Intersection of Family Law and Psychology Coming to Vancouver

A brand new two-day course, "Assessments and Interventions: The Intersection of Family Law and Psychology," is coming to the Pan Pacific in Vancouver, British Columbia in March. The course is being put on by the Continuing Legal Education Society of BC and the course chairs are myself and Morag MacLeod, a noted Vancouver family law lawyer, and Alyson Jones, a well-known registered clinical counsellor based in West Vancouver. Morag frequently presents for groups including CLEBC and the Trial Lawyers Association of BC. Alyson teaches at the Adler University and presents for the Association of Family and Conciliation Courts.

Here's how the promo material from CLEBC describes the course:

This two-day course, taught by a multidisciplinary faculty of expert lawyers, judges, psychologists, and clinical counsellors, will provide insights and practical guidance on how psychology intersects with family law disputes. 

Day 1 will feature a discussion of childhood developmental psychology, how to craft age-appropriate parenting plans, how children experience separation and conflict, and judicial and therapeutic interventions in family law disputes. 

On Day 2, experts’ forensic reports on children and parenting and the legal and scientific standards that apply to them will be critically examined. The second day will also address the causes of and potential remedies for children’s reluctance to visit a parent after separation, focusing on parental alienation and child estrangement.

Other esteemed faculty include:

• Dr. Phil Stahl, forensic psychologist licensed in Arizona, California and Michigan and author of Forensic Psychology Consultation in Child Custody Litigation: A Handbook for Work Product Review, Case Preparation, and Expert Testimony
• Professor Nicholas Bala of the Queen's University Faculty of Law and author of Children Who Resist Post-Separation Parental Contact: A Differential Approach for Legal and Mental Health Professionals
• The Honourable Mr. Justice Abrioux, of the Supreme Court of British Columbia
• Drs. Nicole Aubé, Michael Elterman, Mary Korpach and Rebecca St. Clere England, all prominent psychologists practicing in the Lower Mainland
• Lawyers Nikki Charleton, Jesse Desilets, David Dundee, George Gordon and Jonathan Lazar of the Lower Mainland, and lawyer Suzanne Williams of Victoria

This is going to be an excellent course. It is designed for a multidisciplinary audience of lawyers, mental health professionals, mediators, arbitrators, parenting coordinators and judges, and will be relevant for anyone practicing in Canada or the United States whose work involves separating and separated families. Best of all, there's a seat sale on right now that'll give you a whopping discount on the ordinary price.

The present draft of the agendum is available on CLEBC's website. Here are the details...

Dates

10 and 11 March 2016
(Register for both days or either day.)

Place

Pan Pacific Hotel, Vancouver

Price, given for both days

Early bird rate until 11 February 2016

$1,030 regular, in person
$575 students, in person
$910 live webinar

Rate after 11 February 2016

$1,140 regular, in person
$635 students, in person
$1,010 live webinar

Mental health professionals

Special reduced pricing is available, contact the customer service department

Seat sale rate

$740 regular, in person
$610 live webinar

Register

www.cle.bc.ca

Important Study on Views of the Child Reports: Call for Participants

Rachel Birnbaum, a professor of social work at the University of Western Ontario, is leading a project examining the experiences of lawyers and mental health professionals who prepare views of the child reports, together with Nick Bala, a professor of law at Queen's University, and the Canadian Research Institute for Law and the Family.

We are looking for the input of Canadian family law lawyers and mental health professionals who prepare views of the child reports by completing a relatively short online survey. 

The results of this research may be used in research publications and presentations by Dr. Birnbaum, Professor Bala and the Canadian Research Institute for Law and the Family about children's participation in family justice processes. No identifying information will be collected from respondents and participation is of course entirely voluntary.

Survey

If you are a family law lawyer or mental health professional practicing in Canada who prepares views of the child reports, please log on to the survey at:

http://fluidsurveys.com/surveys/rbirnbaum/views-of-the-child-reports/.

Participant Information

Principal investigator

Rachel Birnbaum, Ph.D, RSW, LL.M.
Associate Professor,
University of Western Ontario, London, Ontario
800-265-4406, x 4431
rbirnbau@uwo.ca

Co-investigators

Nicholas Bala, J.D. LL.M.
Professor,
Queen’s University, Kingston, Ontario
613-533-6000, x 74275
bala@queensu.ca 

John-Paul Boyd, M.A. LL.B.
Executive Director,
Canadian Research Institute for Law and the Family, Calgary, Alberta
403-216-0340
jpboyd@ucalgary.ca

Invitation

This is your invitation to participate in a study that involves research to explore the benefits and challenges of children’s participation in parenting or custody disputes by Views of the Child reports, also known as Voices of the Child reports and/or Hear the Child reports. The extent to which Views of the Child reports effectively facilitate children’s participation in parenting or custody disputes and how such reports are carried out varies across Canada.

We would like to learn more about your views and experiences with these reports and ask that you complete an online survey, which should take no more than 30 minutes to complete and can be done at your convenience.

Ethical considerations about completing this survey

The benefits to you for participating in this study will be that you will contribute to the small, but growing body of research knowledge regarding these types of reports and their impact on children’s participation in family dispute resolution. We do not foresee any particular risk or harm to you as the surveys will be kept confidential and no data will be recorded that could link you to any information obtained. You can as well choose to answer all, some or none of the questions as you like.

Confidentiality

We will not ask you for any information that could be used to identify you; however we will ask questions about your gender, province of practice and professional background for demographic purposes. All of the information collected will be used for educational and research purposes only, and will be kept confidential to the extent provided by laws of Canada. If any reports or publications are produced using the results of this survey, the information collected will be reported in aggregate form only without any identifying information.

Fluid Survey is a Canada-based online survey system that allows individuals to complete questions confidentially and stores its data in servers located in Canada. The information you provide will be entered into a separate statistical database that collects aggregate data only, without any identifying information about you. All information and data will be held securely by Dr. Birnbaum.

Participation is voluntary

Your participation in this research project is completely voluntary. We know of no negative consequences for choosing to participate in the survey or withdrawing from the study at any point. You can answer all of the questions, some or none.

Publication of results

The results of this study may be published in professional or academic journals or presented at conferences. A summary of the findings of this study, when completed, will be available from Dr. Birnbaum upon request.

Whether or not you have completed the survey, if you would like to receive a copy of a summary of the findings for the study, please contact Dr. Birnbaum at 800-265-4406, x 4431 or by email at rbirnbau@uwo.ca.

Contact information and ethics clearance

If you have any questions about this study or require further information, please contact Dr. Birnbaum, using the contact information provided above. This study has been reviewed and received ethics clearance through the Research Ethics Board at King’s University College, University of Western Ontario, London, Ontario.

If you have any questions or concerns related to this research, please contact the Associate Academic Dean of King’s University College: 

Dr. Renée Soulodre-La France
Associate Academic Dean.
King’s University College, Western University, London, Ontario
800-265-4406, x 4424
rsoulodr@uwo.ca

Thank you for your consideration. Please keep a copy of this information for your records if you decide to participate.