Good Communication When Working Remotely
This is an issue that we are all focused on at present! I was very lucky recently to be able to discuss this important topic with my great friend and colleague Marlene Ebejer. She is a leader in the family dispute resolution field, and it was a great privilege to have this discussion with her.…
The Impact of Family Violence on Children
The current world is one characterised by considerable uncertainty and anxiety. This can be an opportunity to step outside our comfort zones and develop new coping strategies for personal growth and resilience. But it can also be a time when relationship difficulties can become overwhelming and stress of this masks our ability to manage this…
Creating quality time for children during a lockdown
There is currently a 40 % increase in parenting matters being initiated in the Family Courts in the context of Covid-19. This reflects the great challenges for parents in navigating this difficult and challenging time. Whether as professionals responding to parents in these circumstances, or parents searching for guidance, we need to understand what is…
Tips for planning family activity during social isolation
Some ideas for making Covid-19 leave your family stronger and closer! Establish a routine for the whole family, talk about this, and communicate about it as a family so it is well understood and committed to by everyone Be flexible and creative to provide interest and variety, and to allow for improvement as time goes…
The humane approach to assisting separated families.
Separation is a time of chaos for the families that approach us for professional assistance. They seek understanding, information and a clear pathway through this chaos to a place of greater certainty and peace. At this point, a family may need time, therapy and emotional support in order to be able to grapple with…
Dealing with Vicarious Trauma
The experts agree that it is normal to be affected by our work. Where this requires us to engage empathetically on a repeated basis with those who are traumatised, then we must be mindful of our exposure to vicarious trauma. Empathy triggers our mirror neurone network so that we mimic those we are working with.…
The obligations of professionals to promote the common good
The notion of a “Social Contract” is one that has evolved through time in the work of various philosophers-John Stuart Mill, Hobbs, Locke, Rousseau and more recently the work of Rawls. At the recent AFCC Conference, Professor Robinson used this notion to present some fascinating ideas about where we as professionals fit into this “social…
The Danger of the Single Story
Everyone has their own unique narrative. Their upbringing, their beliefs, their life experience, all combine to determine how they look at the world and what their narrative looks like. Intact families can work collaboratively even though each member has a very different narrative, because they are working towards the same goal-the wellbeing of their family.…
The importance of family identity.
In my own extended family I have a brother who is adopted, a cousin who is the result of a donor egg, and a nephew who was born as a result of IVF and a donor embryo. The notion of what constitutes a family has changed radically over the last decades and it is becoming…
Giving children a voice
I do not think the value of listening to children and giving them a voice could be put any more powerfully then this poem that was recently brought to my attention. LISTEN When I ask you to listen to me, and you start giving advice, you have not done what I asked. When I ask…