Defusing the High-Conflict Divorce: A Treatment Guide for Working with Angry Couples (Practical Therapist) [Paperback]

Bernard Gaulier (Author), Judith Margerum (Author), Jerome A. Price (Author), James Windell (Author)

Book Description

Series: Practical Therapist | Publication Date: November 27, 2006

It has been estimated that nearly twenty percent of the one million divorces each year in the US involve high-conflict relationships. Angry, emotional disputes related to custody, parenting time, child support payments, visitation and more may go on for years. Who suffers? The children, mostly. Post-divorce conflict may be the most significant factor in adjustment (or maladjustment) for children of divorce. DEFUSING THE HIGH CONFLICT DIVORCE is a practical guide for therapists and others who work with angry divorcing couples. The book offers a unique set of proven programs for quelling the hostility in high-conflict co-parenting couples, and "defusing" their prolonged, bitter and emotional struggles.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"...useful to anyone who is working with a high-conflict couple dealing with long-standing issues." -- PsycCritiques, APA Review of Books, October 2007

"... This is a helpful resource and readable book for professionals in all disciplines..." -- The Family Journal, April 2008

"...marvelous guide..." -- Library Journal, November 2006

From the Publisher

A practical Therapist Series book. Books in this series are designed to answer the troubling "what-do-I-do-now-and-how-do-I-do-it?" questions often confronted in the practice of psychotherapy. Written in plain language, technically innovative, theoretically integrative, filled with case examples, The Practical Therapist Series brings the wisdom and experience of expert mentors to the desk of every therapist.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 272 pages
• Publisher: Impact Publishers (November 27, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1886230676
• ISBN-13: 978-1886230675
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6.1 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 11.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #336,147 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars How to prevail if your job is to be the cooler head, February 6, 2007

By 

Cricket in the Corner (Virtual North Woods) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Defusing the High-Conflict Divorce: A Treatment Guide for Working with Angry Couples (Practical Therapist) (Paperback)

Couples who divorce and stay angry at each other, making ongoing demands and endless accusations, creating volatile situations around issues like child custody, and refusing to be reasonable no matter how much professional guidance they get are a drain on legal and therapeutic resources. They're a major pain for counselors and court personnel, whose efforts are wasted when the feuding exes behave like irrational children.

This book's four authors pooled their expertise in dealing with high-conflict divorce cases to create a resource for other helping professionals. The result is a savvy guide, brimming with common sense and cool-headed ways to resolve conflict and reduce the frustration of toxic post-divorce relationships. How can you help this couple manage their anger toward each other? How can you get them to put their children first and encourage them to be reasonable with each other? How do you keep them focused on issues, and not each other's personalities? These are a few of the important questions answered in this frank, perceptive volume.

The book begins with an eye-opening overview -- incorporating solid research and the authors' own clinical experience -- of what really happens when ex-spouses with children keep fighting. A discussion of dysfunctional patterns that helpers are likely to encounter follows, detailing categories such as co-parents who put their kids in the middle of their fights; substance abuse in one or both exes; one or both ex-partners being accused of mental illness; and other varieties of wheel-spinning pitfalls that cause a lot of collateral damage. There are illustrative examples and a wealth of practical advice here about how to deal with these challenges.

Another part of the book offers an insider's view of the legal and mental health systems that deal with high-conflict divorces. The emphasis is on key figures, like attorneys, judges, and clinicians, who can influence a combative situation toward either peace or escalating war. The authors explore alternatives to litigation and stress proven interventions (including a highly successful program developed by Price and Margerum) and demonstrate how helpers can get involved in high-conflict cases without finding themselves sucked into the maelstrom of post-divorce bitterness.

This is a clear, astute resource sure to boost the confidence and optimism of anyone responsible for sorting out the complications of high-conflict divorce.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent book for professionals who deal with high-conlict divorces and for their clients, October 22, 2007

By 

Emily M. Brown "Director, Key Bridge Therapy ... (Arlington, VA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Defusing the High-Conflict Divorce: A Treatment Guide for Working with Angry Couples (Practical Therapist) (Paperback)

In "Defusing the High-Conflict Divorce," the authors get underneath the surface of high-conflict divorces and describe the types of dysfunction occurring in these families -- dysfunctions which are often not recognized for what they are by legal or mental health professionals. Problems in both the legal and mental health fields that contribute to our dysfunctional adversarial system of divorce are outlined. The authors share information about the kinds of interventions that work and those that don't, in resolving the underlying issues in the family. Throughout the focus is on reducing the parental conflict so that parents are able to meet their children's needs. This book is crucial for legal and mental health professionals who work with divorcing families. It can also offer hope to divorcing couples that there are alternatives other than litigation for resolving conflict.