Co-Parenting Therapy: Supporting Adult Individuals and Couples Through Separation and Divorce
Special Thank you to Central Therapy NJ for making this webinar possible
Description
Separation and divorce affect approximately half of American families, and yet training on how to specifically support parents navigating this transition is often limited. This presentation offers a clinically grounded, skills-focused framework for working with adult clients at two distinct levels: individuals processing the relational fallout of a separation while learning to function as co-parents, and former couples seen together with the explicit goal of building a workable co-parenting partnership.
Drawing on Cognitive Behavioral Therapy and Gottman-informed principles, participants will explore the therapist's role across multiple clinical contexts: working with individual clients who struggle to separate the spousal identity from the parental role; providing structured, goal-limited co-parenting sessions for two parents who are not in a reconciliation process; supporting clients in building realistic and developmentally appropriate parenting plans; and working with individuals navigating parallel parenting or high-conflict dynamics with a narcissistic or difficult co-parent.
Throughout, emphasis is placed on what the research identifies as the primary driver of post-divorce outcomes — not the divorce itself, but the quality of the ongoing co-parenting relationship and the level of conflict to which children are exposed. Practical, session-ready interventions are presented alongside composite case examples illustrating common clinical challenges, including co-parenting conflict over everyday decisions, the introduction of new partners, and situations in which collaborative co-parenting is not a viable option. DBT-informed skills are introduced as practical interventions for this population. Attendees will leave with concrete tools and clearer clinical language for this underserved area of practice.
Learning Objectives
By the end of this presentation, participants will be able to:
- Identify common cognitive distortions and clinical stuck points in individual clients navigating separation and divorce, and apply CBT-informed intervention strategies to address them in session.
- Apply Gottman-informed concepts to co-parenting couples sessions, distinguish these sessions from couples therapy in terms of clinical goals and framing, and describe the key components of a co-parenting plan.
- Recognize behavioral patterns associated with high-conflict or narcissistic co-parents and apply evidence-informed clinical strategies — including DBT-informed skills — to support clients who cannot access collaborative co-parenting.
Instructor Bio
Yael Sherne, LMFT, is the Founder and Clinical Director of Mother Nurture Therapy Group, a perinatal and couples specialty practice based in Los Angeles, California, providing in-person and telehealth services throughout the state. With a Master's degree in Clinical Psychology from Pepperdine University, Yael specializes in perinatal mental health, couples therapy, parenting, and trauma.Yael founded Mother Nurture Therapy Group around a belief that the most significant emotional transitions in adult life deserve genuinely specialized care. Her clinical work integrates a trauma-informed lens across modalities, with particular attention to the relational and systemic patterns that shape how clients show up as partners and parents. She incorporates psychodynamic, attachment-based, EMDR, and IFS approaches into her work with individuals and couples. In addition to her clinical practice, Yael provides supervision, training, and consultation to mental health professionals on perinatal mental health, trauma, and parenting work.
Ms. Sherne has no conflicts of interest for this webinar.
Contact Us
For questions, please contact: ce@gsapp.rutgers.edu
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