The court-affiliated divorce education programs that began in the mid-1970s have made successive reforms and continue to evolve each year. These important programs received broad support and strong recommendations for parents to attend in a 2008 social science article titled “A Nationwide Survey of Mandatory Parent Education.”[1] Unfortunately, little has been mentioned within the program curricula about the parent-child relational problems of enmeshment, realistic estrangement, and parental alienation.
In a pioneering effort to reform both voluntary and mandated divorce education programs, multivariate curriculum’s have been restructured to include a contemporary understanding of parental alienation and the hybrid causes of conflict between parents and their children. Blazing the trail in the reform of divorce education programs have been Joseph Goldberg at www.Parentalalienationeducation.com and Michelle Muncy and Lori LaVigne at our partner organization, www.onlineparenting programs.com.
Their pioneering work represents a giant step forward in the recognition of parental alienation by the courts, and since the start of their reforms in 2012, their updated programs have been adopted in more than 500 counties across the United States.
New Divorce Education Film to be Released in 2014
In 2014, Joseph Goldberg and www.ParentalAlienationEducation.com will be releasing a new film created just for divorce education programs. More than 25 of the world’s leading authorities on high-conflict divorce and parent-child relational problems will make appearances in this film, which will cover a wide range of issues and include brand-new research. It is widely speculated that the film will make a seminal contribution to national divorce education programs in both the United States and Canada, as well as to individual parents understanding parent-child relational problems.
This new film also will be available for viewing at www.ParentalAlienationEducation.com
The Future of Divorce Education
Reforms that incorporate parent-child relational problems into divorce education programs are only in the early stages. However, mental health and legal professionals soon will be under intensive pressure to keep pace with what parents will be learning in these mandatory and/or voluntary programs.
Surveys and parental evaluations of divorce education programs now indicate highly favorable ratings for classes that include education in parental alienation. Many parents who do not experience parental alienation, do know of close friends or other family members who are struggling to deal with it. According to Polley and Lombregelia,
“The sheer number of families who need this education is staggering – the goal now should be to get as many of them to attend as possible, while continuing to be vigilant to maintain the safety of parents while attending these programs.”
Online Divorce Education Programs Beneficial in Domestic Violence Situations
Given concerns about domestic violence in high-conflict divorce situations, one of the best alternatives for voluntary or mandated divorce education is online education via
www.OnlineParentingPrograms.com and www.ParentalAlienationEducation.com. Couples having any history of domestic violence will not have to be concerned about meeting one another in the same class or program. In addition, parents are more likely to attend classes that they can complete in the privacy of their own home through online participation.
[1] Susan L.Pollet and Melissa Lombreglia in Family Court Review, Vol. 46, No. 2: April 2008.