Successful Co-Parenting After Divorce
Alix Clise, Hope McNally, Allison Wentworth
Karen Oehme, J.D., Director, Institute for Family Violence Studies, Florida State University College of Social Work
ABSTRACT
The Institute for Family Violence Studies in the College of
Social Work at Florida State University has developed an
online course for parents in the state of Florida going
through a divorce to teach them successful co-parenting
techniques, communication skills, the influence of a
stable environment for children and the long-lasting
effects of divorce on a family. The goal of the course is to
help divorcing parents work together in raising their
children. The Institute for Family Violence Studies has
used research that has been conducted for years by the
College of Social Work to create an interactive,
educational, multi-media platform. The course has been
launched and accessed successfully by hundreds of
parents across the state of Florida.
EMOTIONAL AWARENESS
Emotional awareness is key to effective communication
in the household. The goal of the multimedia tools
created for children is to provide tips of how to become
aware of their emotions and how to effectively express
those emotions. Because the course is geared towards
parents, the creation of multimedia tools designed for
children allows for them to play a bigger role.
COMPETITION BETWEEN CO-PARENTS
Competition between Co-Parents is a common issue
between parents of divorce and can have harmful
effects on the children that get stuck in the middle of it.
The goal of creating a handout is to help parents think
through what they are saying before they say it, so that
their children are not placed in the middle of a situation FUTURE DIRECTION
that they do not have control over. The handout reminds The online course is currently available for parents
parents to think first speak second and to not influence across the state of Florida. Through discussion with
their children’s view of the other parent.
lawmakers, activists, and interest groups, the Institute
for Family Violence Studies is looking to move forward in
other states. Massachusetts, Arizona, New York and
Maryland have been considered for the next step in
dissemination. The end-goal of the course is to have a
baseline for co-parenting education across the nation.
Individual states have their respective laws about co-
parenting and required literature or coursework, but the
standards vary nationwide.
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� � � How are we feeling t oday?� � �
Name Sun Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat
1/31 2/1 2/2 2/3 2/4 2/5 2/6
Here are some t ips on how t o ef f ect ively use t his char t : ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
• Be expressive; use wor ds like happy, sad, mad, et c.
• Use dif f erent color s f or dif f erent emot ions (i.e. red f or angr y or • We would like to thank the Institute for Family Violence Studies for helping us along the way and especially to Thallia Malespin
for all of your help and hard work.
yellow f or happy)!
• Talk about t hese f eelings each day! • Thanks to the Vandermark foundation, without them this project would not have been able to have been completed