Description
For the June Meeting for the Philadelphia Chapter of the Amicable Divorce Network, all members are invited to attend this online event:
ADN member, Greg Gilston, will present with Christopher Schmidt, Ph.D., LPC, LMFTwill be presenting with him. Dr. Schmidt is a professor at Villanova University. The presentation is called, “When Procedure Becomes a Weapon: Trauma, Control, and the Hidden Toll of Delay in Family Court.”
The presentation would cover:
- How delay and procedural posture can become strategic tools in high-conflict custody matters, effectively rewarding interim misconduct and entrenching unhealthy status quos.
- Clinical and human behavior frameworks for understanding why one parent may engage in controlling or narrative-driven conduct while the other responds with trauma-based reactions such as over-communication, hyper-vigilance, and emotional escalation.
One or two anonymized case vignettes illustrating how allegations, emergency petitions, drug/alcohol testing, and ambiguous evidence can be leveraged to prolong conflict and restrict parenting time despite lack of substantiated risk.
- The impact on children, including loyalty conflicts, adaptation to instability, and the long-term relational lessons they internalize from unresolved parental warfare.
- Practical collaboration and de-escalation strategies for attorneys, mediators, and mental-health professionals to intervene earlier, stabilize families, and reduce unnecessary litigation.