The Collaborative Balancing Act: Navigating Emotions When There Is A Job To Do

Workshop Summary

All experienced divorce professionals know that convincing a client or clients to relinquish entrenched positions, consider new options, and craft compromises they can live with is tough work. Even our most reasonable clients sometimes behave in inscrutable ways, shooting themselves (and us) in the foot just when things are going their way. While the work is always challenging, there are fraught moments in every case – regardless of the legal process – when clients become emotionally overwrought or difficult to understand. These are the moments when we often feel at sea—what to do? Say? Where to put our attention? The difficulty is compounded when one or more professionals become pulled into the vortex in distressing or confusing ways. This workshop will focus on both the conceptual theory and pragmatic techniques that help professionals to navigate these “landmine moments” compassionately, and effectively.

We will address such questions as:

• How does an understanding of the couples’ marital dynamic (what drew them together and what happened when they came apart?) help us anticipate landmines?
• Why are some clients easier to work with than others, and why are some clients more vulnerable to landmines?
• What are our own emotional triggers and why should we care? How do we know what to do or say in any given difficult moment?
• What can we do when we have no idea what to do?
• What are some specific techniques with particular clients to help us navigate highly emotional moments with equanimity and clarity of thinking?
• What are some specific techniques we can rely on to help our clients move from intense emotion to refocusing on a task?
• How do we know when to “tend” to emotion or “move” our clients to problem solving?
• How do we strike the most effective balance between tending and moving?
• Why are the most conflict laden, emotionally fraught moments in our work most important in effecting positive change for our client?

This workshop is intended to appeal to professionals from a variety of disciplines who work with divorce including mental health professionals, lawyers, mediators, and financial specialists.

Presenter Bios

Lisa Herrick, Ph.D. is a licensed clinical psychologist who has worked with children, families and couples for 25. She is a former President of the D.C. Academy of Collaborative Professionals (DCACP) and former Co-Chair of Collaborative Professionals of Northern Virginia (CPNV). Dr. Herrick has worked as a Collaborative Coach and as a Child Specialist for more than 8 years (on more than 100 cases) and is a founding member of the Collaborative Practice Training Institute (CPTI). With Kate Scharff, she has co-authored a book titled, Navigating Emotional Currents of Collaborative Divorce: A Guide for Enlightened Team Practice (ABA, 2010). Dr. Herrick was voted by her peers to be one of the best mental health professionals in the D.C. Metro area for services related to separation and divorce in the Washingtonian Magazine survey for the July 2009 issue. In 2012, Washingtonian Magazine named her one of the best couples therapists in the area. Dr. Herrick co-founded the Collaborative Practice Center of Greater Washington, where mental health, legal and financial professionals share space, and work together to promote Collaborative endeavors. She currently offers trainings to Collaborative professionals throughout the country.

Telephone: 703-847-5793
Email: lherrickphd@gmail.com
Website: www.lisaherrick.com

Kate Scharff, MSW, LCSW-C, LICSW, is a psychotherapist, mediator, parent coordinator, divorce consultant, and senior Collaborative practitioner/trainer with 25 years of clinical experience. She has taught and published widely in the areas of psychotherapy, divorce, and, more recently, Collaborative Practice. Kate has completed over 100 Collaborative cases in which she has served as coach or child specialist. As a founding faculty member of the Collaborative Practice Training Institute (CPTI), Kate has conducted trainings on a variety of topics, including “Interdisciplinary Team Collaborative Practice,” (Introductory, Intermediate, and Advanced), “The Dynamics of Divorce,” and “Creating a Deep and Durable Parenting Plan.” She is the author with Lisa Herrick, PhD, of the book Navigating the Emotional Currents of Collaborative Divorce: A Guide for Enlightened Team Practice (ABA, October, 2010). Most recently Kate has become a featured divorce blogger on Huffingtonpost.com. She is a co- founder and Principal of The Collaborative Practice Center of Greater Washington.

Telephone: 301-641-3211
Email: katescharff@katescharff.com
Website: www.katescharff.com