From the Men’s Conference: Increasing Challenges with High Conflict Separations by Dr Rachel Birnbaum, King’s University College, at Western Canada. Notes

This was the first session of the second day. It began with a talk about children deserving a relationship with both parents. High conflict family - How to get evidence going to court more without a lawyer and different for children not having relationships with both? The high conflict family is characterized as litigious, exhibiting poor communication and having poor problem solving skills and in some cases by violence. It is pathology driven. Ontario is blessed with a lot of services. However, in some places, in Ontario, there are no services, in Alberta; out East. Children don’t want parents fighting. They want them to get along. There are challenges in the court system - a blind instrument. In Toronto there has been a request for a unified court for years, so people don’t have to tell their stories over and over again. We were shown a video of a child asking her mom not be high. The child wants everyone to smile. “My heart is empty. If we live in a world that is mean, everyone will be a monster. I’m trying not to be mean.” The child wants everyone to be as nice as possible. In 2015, 10% of child protection cases involve a custody dispute. Research on rates of intentional false allegations in custody and access disputes range from 4% to 23%. Divorce causes stress for all children. Judge wants therapists - less therapists willing to do it (I am one of them) and less doing it with competence. There is conflict within hospitals of parents arguing over surgery or not and of options for their children. Laws being changed to put children first and must be heard. Ref: The Voice of Child is increasing. Birnbaum R and Baln. (2022) High Conflict Parenting Cases and the Role of State - funded agencies in Ontario. Challenges, Perpetual Crises and Lack of Support - pictures. Any error listed would be my own and not of Dr Birbaum.