COURSE DESCRIPTION

A statement from a child may be the first information about any number of situations that impact on the child's health, safety, and emotional well-being, and such concerns may also be presented by parents who are involved in external processes such as the legal system. This intermediate course will provide mental health professionals with the information they need to explore children's concerns without biasing the process or inadvertently prompting the child to produce invalid information. Major topics will include a balanced review of research on children's interviewing and suggestibility, review of major controversies in the literature, the importance of a multiple-hypotheses approach, boundaries and interactions between treatment and investigative roles, interactions with the legal system, practical strategies for responding effectively when children are at the center of parental conflict or are the subject of allegations of abuse.

This six -hour course provides annual update training for current custody evaluators, and can be counted towards the 40-hour initial training requirement for licensed mental health professionals seeking to qualify to provide child custody evaluations for the courts in California. The course will also cover issues related to assessing allegations of child sexual abuse, including family dynamics, children’s disclosure patterns, and the other content areas required by Family Code section 3110.5(b)(2)(A)-(F) and Family Code section 3118.

NOTE: The course outline or agenda for this training has been approved as corresponding to subject areas specified in California Rules of Court, rule 5.225(e)(1)-(21). The views expressed in this training are those of the trainer and do not necessarily represent the official positions or policies of th e Judicial Council of California or the Administrative Office of the Courts.

TESTIMONIALS

Here are some comments taken from recent course evaluations about Dr. Greenberg and her course.

TOPICS

-Listening, Hearing, & Understanding: Complications In Understanding What Children Are Telling Us
-The Importance Of Developmental Framing
-Professional Roles, Boundaries, And Pitfalls
-Literature Update, Review Of Findings And Controversies Regarding Children's Suggestibility

-The assessment of child sexual abuse allegations, including recent research, children’s disclosure patterns, approaches to valid assessment, and related issues
-Children's Preferences In—And Out—Of Court
-The Importance Of Balance And Multiple Hypotheses
-Practical Strategies For Balanced, Valid Interviewing
-What's Really Protective?
-Staying Afloat In Troubled Waters: Interaction With Parental Conflict And The Legal System

GOALS

At the conclusion of this program you should be better able to:

• Understand the complex findings on children's interviewing and suggestibility.
• Recognize high-conflict situations and situations involving dangers of external influence.
• Conduct valid and balanced exploration of children's concerns.
• Interact effectively with the legal & child protection systems.

SPEAKER PROFILE

Lyn R. Greenberg, Ph.D. is a licensed psychologist (#PSY 11436) specializing in work with children and families involved with the courts. She performs child custody evaluations, evaluations of alleged abuse, forensic consultation, expert witness services, parent coordination, and specialized treatment for court-involved children and families. She has written and presented both locally and nationally on forensic psychology, professional ethics, child custody evaluation, assessment of child abuse allegations, valid interviews of children, and court-related treatment. She currently serves as Chair of Continuing Education, and Co-Chair of the Forensic Specialty Group, for the Division of Family Psychology of the American Psychological Association. She is a Member of the (Southern) Children’s Issues Committee of the California State Bar Association.