Trauma-Informed Co-Parenting Notes

Trauma-Informed Co-Parenting

Introduction

  • Article from Florida State University College of Law discusses trauma-informed co-parenting.
  • Suggests compulsory divorce education should reflect new brain development research.
  • Aims to promote the best interests of both parents and children.

Details of Co-Parenting Training

  • Training includes advice from adults whose parents divorced when they were young.
  • Includes divorced individuals sharing feelings, emphasizing co-parenting importance.
  • Actors portray hostile and cooperative parenting communication.
  • Most parents (89%) reported learning new skills.
  • The remaining 91% indicated that training helps families adjust post-divorce.

Study Surveys and Data Collection

  • Participants complete voluntary, anonymous surveys during training.
  • Surveys cover opinions, attitudes, beliefs, history, and behavior.
  • Pilot testing involves online data collection and analysis.
  • Data collected on co-parenting relationships, wellbeing, and children's wellbeing.

Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACE) Assessment

  • Parents asked about childhood traumatic experiences using the World Health Organization's Adverse Childhood Experiences International Questionnaire (ACE-IQ).
  • Experiences assessed for frequency before age eighteen.
  • Affirmative answers, regardless of frequency, indicate experience of a given ACE.
  • This method aligns with typical ACE studies.

Prevalence of Childhood Trauma

  • Pilot testing phase reveals many parents experienced trauma as children.
  • More than half reported physical abuse, emotional abuse, and household challenges.

Recommendations for Trauma-Informed Training

  • Training should be sensitive to trauma suffered by parents.
  • Avoid exacerbating rancor in family court litigation.
  • Offer parents opportunity to reflect on their own trauma histories.
  • Make parents aware of the persistent effects of early trauma.
  • Statutes should ensure sweeping confidentiality of training documents.
  • Assure parents that education is neither coercive nor invasive.
  • Aims to help parents reduce trauma's lingering force and prevent its presence in children's lives.