Among many other states, Florida has taken a strong stance when it comes to protecting innocent children from being exposed to those who have been accused of sexually abusing them. In 2007, The Keeping Children Safe Act was adopted in the Florida legislative session and was intended to be utilized when a child’s parent, relative, or caregiver has been accused of any form of sexual abuse. The Act demands that until the matter can be presented in a court hearing, protective actions must be put in put in place to prevent the child from potentially being re-exposed to any further …

Parental Alienation & High Conflict Divorce:  Without question, the break up of a marriage creates an overwhelming amount of stress, even during ideal circumstances. When you add kids in to the mix, the new source of concern typically (and appropriately) shifts away from the parent’s own feelings and instead becomes centered around making sure that the children are “okay”, without any long term emotional damage. Unfortunately, divorcing parents don’t always have the luxury of dealing with the “ideal” former spouse, and some are so misguided or irrational that effective communication is nearly impossible . When attempting to co-parent, some parents …

Relocation Disputes Information about post-divorce families that plan to move, how to have a healthy long distance co-parenting relationship, and tips to prevent parent/child relationship breakdowns. In today’s day and age, many divorced families will find themselves far from one another due to various reasons, such as job changes or the desire to move closer to relatives. For this reason, relocation disputes are becoming much more common, especially in families where one or both parents lack the appropriate co-parenting and communication skills necessary for this situation. Relocation Disputes involve one parent requesting to move with the child(ren) a substantial distance …

Every family has different dynamics, complexities, and issues that needs to be focused on. For this reason, the reunification therapy process can vary in time from family to family. Typically the time will rely on the level of resistance from the parental parties as well as the children. The time it takes to fully assess each individual involved will also play a large role in the length of the process. Process Background Information Reunification will begin once the clinician has received all necessary paperwork and documentation from both parties. This includes court orders, parenting plans, settlements, court motions, DCF or …

There are very few topics that can spark as much emotion and negative attention as an allegation of child sexual abuse, especially when the accused is the child’s own parent. These accusations are taken very seriously by nearly all responsible adults, often without much thought given to whether or not the claims could have been fabricated by the other parent. It seems almost inconceivable that any parent would go so far as to make up such a terrible thing, which unfortunately creates somewhat of the perfect storm for the handful of very disturbed parents who are willing to stop at nothing to …

Although Judges are trained to be neutral parties in the courtroom and one would assume they are in complete control of their decision-making process, studies have shown that there are several factors (which attorneys can often subtly manipulate) in order to help tip the scales during difficult trials. A large research study in Ireland analyzed the results of 1,112 parole board hearings, as they relate to the time of day in which they occurred. The results were astonishing:  Researchers clearly identified a pattern in which the judges were substantially more likely to rule in favor of the defendants whose cases were heard …

Parental Gatekeeping For parents who are co-parenting after a divorce, parental gatekeeping can become a very serious problem when trying to co-parent and communicate effectively. Parental gatekeeping is a term used to describe a parent’s preferences and attempts to restrict and exclude the other parent from being involved in the child’s development. Gatekeeping attitudes and behaviors can range from very positive, which are facilitative, to very negative, which are inhibitory, or to the most extreme known as Parental Alienation. Statistics Although restrictive gatekeeping usually occurs in divorced families, about 20% of parents in “intact” families are restrictive gatekeepers, 42% of …

The child custody evaluation process should involve a rather systematic method of gathering information, formulating a hypothesis, and rendering opinions pertaining to the best interests of the children involved. Unfortunately, not all psychologists or mental health professionals are properly trained or even qualified to conduct these evaluations, yet they continue to perform them and have the potential to cause more damage than good.   If you believe that the results of your family’s social investigation were unfair, biased, or poorly executed, you may want to consider hiring a second forensic psychologist to complete a “work product review“. The role of this second “rebuttal” psychologist is to take a fine tooth …

Psychological Center for Expert Evaluations, Inc. is a proud sponsor of Family Day 2013! For more information on how you can be a part of Family Day visit: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Tykes-Teens-Family-Day-2013/269671636510616! Every year children under the age of 18 are arrested in Palm Beach County for anything from drug possession to theft. Parents are always looking for new ways to get involved in their children’s lives to prevent unlawful behavior and decisions. Especially in families who are divorced, it may be difficult to be a part of your child’s life when you are on a parenting plan that doesn’t allow you to see …

In Palm Beach County, Florida, legal costs are on the rise, as are the number of divorces. Today, one of the cheapest and most effective ways parties are getting divorced is thorough family mediation. Once a spouse has filed for divorce, whether they have an attorney or not, they are able to participate in the informal process of mediation in which both parties have the ability to compromise and come to a fair agreement. Mediation is a confidential process in which the mediator works as an impartial and neutral member to empower the parties to make their own decisions and …