Structured Co-Parenting Counseling

Structured Co-Parenting Counseling is designed to help separated parents plan and maintain a successful co-parenting relationship for the benefit of their children.

After a parental separation, the best predictors of child adjustment are the quality of parenting in each home and the quality of the co-parenting relationship. Regardless of the placement schedule, it is essential for parents to have a cooperative relationship. When parents live in two different homes, children adjust best if their parents learn to work together in parenting.

Most people entering the divorce process know little about what to expect, what their choices are, and how to move the divorce process in a constructive direction. Parents are pressured to be nice and cooperative but are not given the tools to do so. The problems in the spousal relationship spill over into the parenting relationship. Most parents try the same strategies at co-parenting that failed in their relationship with each other. As feelings of frustration and powerlessness build, conflicts over placement and other parenting decisions escalate. Parents end up bullying, manipulating and litigating rather than making simple decisions. Structured Co-Parenting is a way for parents to end these struggles and work together for their children.

In the court system, parents are led to believe that parenting after separation is a process of taking turns. You get to be a parent when you have placement, and you are not a parent when the other parent has placement. You get to do anything you want when you have the children, and you have no control over what the other parent does during their time. This goes against the basic instinct to be a parent all the time. Most importantly, this approach of taking turns is not good for the children.

Structured Co-Parenting Counseling is not like other counseling. We do not try to resolve old spousal issues. Our focus is on the future of the parenting relationship. We offer a blueprint for successful co-parenting, help parents reach parenting agreements, provide information on what has worked for others, and establish rules to overcome past problems. Structured Co-Parenting is time-limited, usually two or three two-hour meetings. Parents will learn:

1. How to separate past problems from the future parenting relationship.

2. How to make contracts for positive behavior so that the parenting relationship is civil,

trusting, mutually rewarding and successful.

3. How to coordinate parenting in two homes.

4. How to identify, express and resolve concerns about the parenting in the home.

5. How to successfully make decisions, solve problems and resolve scheduling conflicts.

6. How to coordinate and plan the children’s care and lives outside the home including

childcare, school activities, social involvements and relationships with extended

family.

7. How to keep the pressures of having parents in two homes to a minimum.

8. How to be included in all aspects of the children’s lives, share in the joys of raising

children, find out what is going on with the children, and create access to both parents

for the children, regardless of the placement schedule.

Costs are $75.00 per hour per parent, due at time of service.

For an appointment, or more information about this service, contact:

Mindy Haseleu, Psy.D.

(920) 261-4100, ext. 307

Donald Meyer, Ph.D.

(920) 261-4100, ext. 215