3. Outlines
• Concerns about children’s voices in parental
disputes over parenting arrangement
• Clinical Psychologist’s role in identifying
children’s voices versus children’s wishes
• Clinical assessment with case illustrations
• Integrating children’s voices in a collaborative
approach
4. Concerns about children’s voices in
parental disputes over parenting arrangement
• Why there are concerns?
• What are the concerns?
• How children’s voices are heard?
5. Why there are concerns (1)
• Children are an active social agent or actor
• Children’s agency is an interaction of personal and
family characteristics, the availability of social
support, and societal macrosystems
• Children need to know what is going to affect their
life and to be heard; having a say in parents’ divorce
decision empowers them with a greater sense of
control over their environment
• Sense of agency is associated with self-esteem,
optimism and life satisfaction vs helplessness,
pessimism and dismay
6. Why there are concerns (2)
United Nations Convention on the Rights of the
Child Article 12 (Respect for the views of the child):
•When adults are making decisions that affect
children, children have the right to say what they
think should happen and have their opinions taken
into account
•Encourages adults to listen to the opinions of
children and involve them in decision-making -- not
give children authority over adults
•The level of a child’s participation in decisions must
be appropriate to the child's level of maturity
7. Why there are concerns (3)
• Parents in divorce are often blinded by their
emotions to have a clear picture of children’s needs
• Children are sensitive to their own family situation
• Children’s voice can be enlightening to parents,
injecting new information, or new options leading
to dispute resolution, better decisions, more
workable arrangements in the best interests of
children, providing the Court with more integrated
and reliable view of the family
8. What are the concerns
• Children may be placed in the position of de facto
decision-maker undermining parental authority,
leading to role-reversal, and over-burdening them
• Children may be placed in the middle of their
parents’ conflicts in expressing their choices
• Children may be under parental coaching, pressure
and manipulation, expressing views based on what
is fair to their parents, or to meet a parent’s needs,
rather than what is best for themselves
9. Children placed in the position of
de facto decision-maker
• Studies indicate that children generally only want
their views to be heard seriously
• If the eventual parenting arrangement is different
from the children’s request, children are likely to
lose trust in authorities
• In clinical assessment, children are well informed
that their view will be taken seriously, but the
decisions are made based on all the relevant
information and the needs of all involved (control
of process, not control of decision)
10. Children placed in the middle of parental
conflicts in expressing their choices
• Studies indicate that children generally do not want
to express a view when the issue is a clear choice
between the competing proposals of their parents
• There are many ways of listening to children’s
voices without forcing them to choose between two
irreconcilable sets of proposals, e.g. open-ended
questions over a broad context of children’s lives
and relationships vs binary choice; facilitate
children to think through practical pros and cons
in hypothetical scenarios
11. Children under parental coaching,
pressure, or manipulation
• Children, especially prior to adolescence, do not
have the capacity to make reasoned choices about
important matters
• Children’s voices cannot be heard in isolation, out
of context
• Clinical assessment takes a holistic perspective of
children’s expressed views and wishes, in a broad
context of the children’s lives, to discern children’s
authentic voices and need
12. How children’s voices are heard
Different ways of children’s participation in the
decision-making process:
•Social investigation report
•Psychological report
•Child-inclusive mediation
•Child representative
•Judicial interviewing
13. Clinical Psychologist’s role
in identifying children’s voices
versus children’s choices or wishes
Clinical psychologists are trained in normal and
abnormal functioning of both children and adults,
equipped with a wide range of assessment skills, able
to take a holistic view of the family, to assess the
impact of family dynamic on children, and to provide
competent and impartial opinions with direct
relevance to the “psychological best interests” of the
child.
14. Clinical assessment encompasses:
• Interviews (age-appropriate)
• Home visits (natural environment to minimize
anxiety and disruption of normal routines, sense of
belonging & agency in the environment)
• Behavioural observations (structured/ non-
directive activities, individual, parent-child, family)
• Collateral information (legal documents, medical,
school, social investigation reports)
• Psychological testing
15. Objectives & functions of clinical assessment
with case illustrations (1)
• Facilitate both adults and children to express their
perspectives, feelings & needs, verbally and non-
verbally, with respect and trust
• Gain a holistic view of the family dynamic and
impact on the children – toxic stress, role reversal,
abuse, alienation, resistance to see a parent,
bonding, 3rd
party influence
16. Objectives & functions of clinical assessment
with case illustrations (2)
• Cautious of “poison” and undue influence from
significant adults
• Identify children’s authentic voices and needs by
tuning into the children’s experiential world,
listening from inside out, not literally
• Enlighten parents, providing relevant feedback to
parents regarding children’s feelings & needs
17. Objectives & functions of clinical assessment
with case illustrations (3)
• On top of the “Do no harm” principle, add some
positive experience to all concerned
• Help parents get out of the ‘stuck’ situation and
move forward
• Obtain relevant information in reaching an
informed and considered clinical opinion in the best
interest of the child, guiding court and parents to
make the best decision for the children
18. Highlights of clinical assessment (1)
• Children’s stated wishes may not be a reliable
index of the children’s best interest
• Children can tolerate almost any solution that
settles the conflicts between parents better than the
ongoing conflicts that some parents continue
• Arrangements entered into willingly by both
parents are more stable and beneficial to children
• Ongoing parental conflict is toxic to children’s
cognitive, emotional social, physical development
19. Highlights in clinical assessment (2)
• Anxiety of losing parents’ love is children’s
primary source of distress
• Children’s adjustment following parents’ divorce is
dependent on the quality of post-divorce family
relationships and the quality of the co-parental
relationships
• Parents’ commitment to making their best efforts
to healthy co-parenting is the primary strength that
helps children transition parental divorce and
thrive
20. Integrating children’s voices
in a collaborative approach
• Psychological assessment and report to help parents
and judges make decision
• Working with Parenting Coordinator
• Working with Mediator
• Working with Collaborative-practiced-lawyer
• Working with Therapist / Counsellor
21. Let’s join hands
in listening to the authentic voices of children
to minimize harm of parental divorce
Thank You
