The Truth about Children and Divorce. Dr Robert Emery in Brisbane, July 2014 

Relationships Australia Queensland is presenting two full days with Robert Emery, Ph.D. in July 2014.

Dr. Emery's research focuses on family relationships and children's mental health, including parental conflict, divorce, child custody, family violence, and genetically informed studies of all these issues, as well as associated legal and policy issues. In addition to his world-leading research in these areas, Dr Emery has been an active clinical psychologist, mediator, and parenting coordinator for 35 years, and presents his research in a way that is relevant to your clinical practice. Read more about Dr Emery below.

Not afraid of controversy, Dr Emery will invite you to discuss his research on topics including infant overnights, randomised trials of mediated and litigated child custody disputes, and coparenting conflict and attachment.

Dr Emery’s explanation of high emotion, especially anger, has helped many family mediators deal with emotion in the room and also to understand how the length of separation affects and predicts behavior. The connection between how adults handle their emotions at separations and the effects on their children is the key Dr Emery can use to unlock many puzzles for mediators, family lawyers and other workers in the separation field.

EARLYBIRD DISCOUNT

Register and pay before Thursday, 12 June
TWO FULL DAYS: $405 (normally $450)
ONE DAY: $216 (normally $250)

GROUP SPECIAL OFFER
We are offering a special GROUP DISCOUNT, available if you register yourself plus three friends/colleagues*. Simply enter GROUP4 into the discount window on the registration page.

This means the organiser goes FREE and three friends/colleagues pay full price, OR you share the discount and each person pays:
**  $303pp for 2 days (during earlybird period)
**  $162pp for 1 day

DAY ONE (TUE 15 JULY)
8.30  Arrival tea and coffee/ Registration

 9.00  Introductions
Changing families and their implications for children's well-being
A.  Demographic trends
B.  Social, economic, and relationship stressors
C.  Children's risk and resilience in divorce
D.  Children's pain: A key and overlooked consequence
E.  A hierarchy of children's needs in divorce

10.30  Morning tea

10.45  Renegotiating family relationships
A.  Breaking off with an ex but not with children
B.  Renegotiating boundaries of love and power in the family system
C.  Grief
D.  Anger and pain, fear, longing, and shame
E.  Power boundaries

12.00  Lunch

12.45  Panel: Adult children of divorce
Panel of adults whose parents divorced when they were children. These panel members will have a range of experiences, eg. Different ages when parents separated;  Joint vs sole custody; More and less conflicted families/coparenting.

2.45  Afternoon Tea

3.00  Post Panel discussion and question time
(This may change to be incorporated into previous session, and another research session presented here) 

4.00  Finish

 

DAY TWO (WED 16 JULY)
8.30  Arrival tea and coffee/Registration

9.00  Pros and cons of shared custody
A.  What is shared custody?
B.  Demographics and laws: Theory and reality
C.  Evidence on joint custody and children's well-being
D.  Boundaries of benefits: Conflict, personality, & age

10.30  Morning tea

10.45  Very young children: Theory and research on overnights
A.  Theory and opinion
B.  Three studies
C.  Emery's recent study
D.  Practice guidelines in the face of limited evidence

12.00  Lunch

12.45  Developmentally based parenting plans
A.  Principles
B.  Infants
C.  Toddlers
D.  Preschoolers
E.  School-aged children
F.  Adolescents

2.45  Afternoon Tea

3.00  Outcomes of mediation and alternative dispute resolution
A.  A range of dispute resolution alternatives
B.  Emery's 12 year randomized trial of mediation and litigation
C.  How can so little mean so much?

4.15  Finish

CATERING
Morning/Afternoon Tea and Lunch provided. Please advise any dietary requirements to masterclasses@raq.org.au

DRIVING DIRECTIONS
If you are DRIVING to the event, please park in WILSON PARKING in CHINATOWN MALL. You can validate your ticket at the event, and receive heavily discounted parking, of $8 for 24 hours. We will send directions closer to the event time.

PD POINTS
These workshops can be used for APS PD points and PACFA PD hours. Please ensure to keep workshop materials for evidence. 

MORE INFORMATION
For further information, or if you experience problems registering, please contact the Event Organiser, Cathryn, on masterclasses@raq.org.au or (07) 3423 6869 (8:30am-4pm Mon-Fri, excluding Wednesday).

Register Now! 

 

 

Robert E. Emery, Ph.D.

Robert Emery, Ph.D. is Professor of Psychology and Director of the Center for Children, Families, and the Law at the University of Virginia, where he has spent his entire academic career (beginning in 1981). He was Director of Clinical Training at UVA from 1993-2002. He received his B.A. from Brown University in 1974 and his Ph.D. from the State University of New York at Stony Brook in 1982. 

Dr. Emery's research focuses on family relationships and children's mental health, including parental conflict, divorce, child custody, family violence, and genetically informed studies of all these issues, as well as associated legal and policy issues.  His 1982 Psychological Bulletin paper, “Interparental Conflict and the Children of Discord and Divorce,” was designated a “Citation Classic” by the Institute for Scientific Information.  His Child Development paper, “Family Members as Third Parties in Dyadic Family Conflict: Strategies, Alliances, and Outcomes” (with Samuel Vuchinich and Jude Cassidy), won the 1989 "Outstanding Research Publication Award" from the American Association of Marriage and Family Therapy. In December 2000, he presented his research findings to the National Academy of Sciences. The Association of Family and Conciliation Courts gave the “Distinguished Researcher” and “Myer Elkin Address” awards to Dr. Emery in 2002. His book, The Truth about Children and Divorce, was a finalist for the Books for a Better Life Award and Library of Virginia Literary Award in 2005. In 2012, Division 43 of the American Psychological Association honored him with their award for Distinguished Contributions to Family Psychology.

Dr. Emery has authored over 150 scientific publications and several books. Marriage, Divorce, and Children's Adjustment (1999, 2^nd Ed., Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications) won the Outstanding Academic Book award from Choice magazine, and was translated into Chinese. Abnormal Psychology (2014, Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson [with Thomas Oltmanns]) is in its eighth edition.  His book, Renegotiating Family Relationships: Divorce, Child Custody, and Mediation (2^nd Ed. 2011, New York: Guilford Publications), was translated into Italian (Il Divorzio: Renegoziare le Relazioni Familiari). His 2004 book, The Truth about Children and Divorce: Dealing with the Emotions So You and Your Children Can Thrive (New York: Viking [Plume paperback, 2006]) is written for a broad audience and was featured when Dr. Emery presented on the Today Show, Good Morning America, The Jane Pauley Show, National Public Radio, in Newsweek and Time magazines, and in many other print and electronic media. The book has been translated into Italian and Korean.

Dr. Emery has served on the editorial board of twelve professional journals, and was a member of the Social Sciences and Population study section of the National Institutes of Health. He currently is Associate Editor of Family Court Review. He has lectured extensively across the United States and in many countries throughout the world. In addition to his research, teaching, and administrative responsibilities, Dr. Emery maintains a practice as a clinical psychologist, divorce mediator, and parenting coordinator. He is the father of five children.

 

For further information, please contact the Event Organiser, Cathryn, on masterclasses@raq.org.au or (07) 3423 6869 (Mon-Fri, excluding Wednesday)

 

Register Now!