Clinical Divorce Specialist Certificate Training Program

Description

The Clinical Divorce Specialist Certificate Training program consists of three online self-study courses.

In a clinical landscape where divorce and separation touch nearly half of all families, practitioners often find themselves navigating high-conflict crises, complex legal realities, and deep-seated family grief without the specialized framework necessary to provide grounded, transformative support.

This comprehensive 3-part certificate program offers a vital roadmap for mental health professionals, moving beyond general family therapy to provide the precise, evidence-informed strategies needed to manage the volatile dynamics of marital dissolution.

We invite you to move beyond reactive crisis management by joining this specialized training program, where you will gain the advanced clinical tools and professional confidence required to guide families toward stability and hope through one of life’s most destabilizing transitions. This journey toward becoming a Clinical Divorce Specialist (CDSC) provides a supportive space to deepen your competence while learning to navigate even the most challenging family systems with clarity and boundaries.

Led by Dr. Alyse November, Ph.D., LCSW, ACSW, CST, alongside Stephanie Newberg, MEd, MSW, LCSW, this program sheds light on the clinical best practices. Their combined expertise in child development, high-conflict family systems, and collaborative divorce facilitation ensures that every session is rooted in the authority of daily, real-world practice.

The instructors utilize a structured, systemic approach that combines clear conceptual frameworks with real-world case examples and clinical demonstrations to move participants from theory to immediate implementation. This multi-dimensional teaching style focuses on providing concrete language for difficult conversations and step-by-step interventions that can be integrated into individual, couple, and family sessions.

This comprehensive curriculum covers the entire divorce trajectory, including co-parenting principles, conflict resolution, and the developmental impact of separation on children across the lifespan. Participants will explore critical topics such as parental alienation, personality disorders in divorce, blended family dynamics, interpersonal violence safety planning, and the ethical nuances of working within court-involved systems.

Key Takeaways:

• Comprehensive Clinical Framework: Master a systemic orientation to the divorce process that allows for targeted treatment planning, from the initial shock of separation through the long-term complexities of blended family integration.
• Advanced Intervention Skills: Acquire evidence-informed strategies for de-escalating high-conflict co-parenting dynamics, managing communication breakdowns, and addressing the specific psychological and developmental needs of children in transition.
• Systemic Assessment Mastery: Develop the ability to identify and assess how individual stressors, such as single parenting and personality disorders, reverberate throughout the entire family system to inform more effective case conceptualizations.

Why this course?

• Unmatched Professional Expertise: Unlike general family therapy programs, this training is led by practitioners who serve as mediators and court-involved experts, offering practical guidance that reflects the actual intensity of divorce-focused clinical work.
• A Commitment to Excellence: Offered by the Telehealth Certification Institute, this program aligns with a mission of integrity and innovation, ensuring you receive a credential that represents both ethical rigor and clinical mastery.
• Immediate Clinical Utility: Every module is designed to provide "Monday-morning" tools—including concrete language, structured interventions, and de-escalation techniques—that transform the way you handle your most challenging and high-stress cases.

As you look to refine your specialty and deepen your impact, this certificate program offers a supportive environment to grow alongside experts who understand the nuances of this challenging field. We welcome you to take this meaningful step in your professional development and join a community dedicated to excellence in divorce-informed care.

These courses are non-interactive self-studies.

Learning Objectives:

After participating in Helping Your Clients Cope with Divorce and Separation participants will be able to:

• Identify the aspects of what the divorce process entails, how it impacts clients, and the clinical skills to provide treatment.
• Identify & assess how the specific aspects of divorce (such as single parenting, communication with ex-partner) affect the individual as well as the whole family system.
• Explain how personality disorders, infidelity, IPV, poor communication skills, and conflict can be addressed in the clinical setting.

After participating in Co-Parenting Counseling: Clinical Implications and Skill Building participants will be able to:

• Identify all the aspects of the co-parenting process.
• Identify and assess how the specific components of co-parenting affect the whole family system
• Describe conflict resolution, de-escalation, and effective communication skills specific to the issues of co-parenting.
• Apply specific skills and techniques in co-parenting counseling.

After participating in Children and Divorce: Understanding Clinical Implications and Techniques participants will be able to:

• Identify the effects of divorce on children.
• Assess how the specific components of co-parenting affect the whole family system.
• Apply clinical skills and interventions to address the needs of children in divorced families.
• Recognize challenges within family dynamics, including parental conflict and blended family complexities.
• Apply conflict resolution, de-escalation, and effective communication skills specific to the issues of co-parenting.
• Develop collaborative strategies with parents to address the needs of the child to create a supportive environment pre, post, and during the divorce process.

Program Details

How to Attend: 

Course access and completion instructions.

Who Should Attend:

This course is intended for clinicians who provide behavioral health services.

Teaching Methods: 

This is a series of 3 non-interactive online self-study courses.

How to earn the CDSC: 

The Clinical Divorce Specialist Certificate (CDSC) program requires completion of three courses:

• Helping Your Clients Cope with Divorce and Separation
• Co-Parenting Counseling: Clinical Implications and Skill Building
• Children and Divorce: Understanding Clinical Implications and Techniques

Successful completion of each course will earn participants the Clinical Divorce Specialist Certificate (CDSC)

Instructors and Disclosures

Instructors

About Alyse November, Ph.D., LCSW, ACSW, CST

Alyse November, obtained her Bachelor’s degree in Psychology, her Master’s Degree in Social Work from Adelphi University, N.Y., and her PhD in Clinical Sexology from IICS. She is credentialed by the Academy of Certified Social Workers.

Alyse is the founder of Different Like Me, a company with a staff of over 30 professionals providing psychotherapy, psychoeducational testing and cognitive rehabilitation. As a licensed clinical social worker, Alyse provides psychotherapy to individuals across the lifespan. A substantial portion of her practice has focused on addressing challenges faced by children, adults, seniors, and families ranging from trauma, narcissistic and borderline family recovery, aging, chronic illness, divorce, trans-care, relationships, parenting, and special needs, end of life issues, dementia, caregiving, educational challenges, anxiety, and depression. Her PhD dissertation focused on the assessment of sexual challenges and dementia. Alyse also created DLMU which is an educational platform that provides seminars for both professional and personal development.

Alyse is:

• Certified in EMDR, Brainspotting and transgender care
• A published author and a national speaker and presenter
• Awarded 2022 Social Worker of the Year: National Association of Social Workers
• A Supreme Court Certified Family Mediator, parenting coordinator and a collaboratively trained divorce facilitator
• Palm Beach Chapter Past President/Chair for the National Association of Social Workers
• A past board member of Florida’s Voice on Developmental Disabilities and National Association of Divorce Professionals

About Stephanie Newberg, MEd, MSW, LCSW

Stephanie Newberg is a licensed psychotherapist in FL and PA, working with individuals, couples and families. She has been in practice for more than 25 years specializing in: family and couples therapy, conflict resolution, grief and loss, parenting support and the implications of divorce on children and families. In addition, Stephanie is a trained family and divorce mediator/ co-parent counselor and has received intensive training in sand tray play therapy for adolescents and children. Stephanie has led numerous workshops and presentations for adults and adolescents on relationship and communication skills, dealing with the effects of divorce on families, diversity issues, cyberbullying/effects of technology on development, nutrition and mental health, and conflict resolution skills. In addition, Stephanie has numerous publications and has been on two podcasts. Stephanie is a certified counselor for first responders, trained in neuro- emotional techniques, served as a consultant for the Council for Relationships in Philadelphia, PA and worked at the Bryn Mawr College Graduate School of Social work as an adjunct professor, supervisor, and field work liaison for social work students.

Disclosure Statement: 

The instructor(s) for this course receive compensation for their services. There are no reported conflicts of interest to disclose.

CE Hours

Credit Hours:

This course consists of a total of 9 continuing education hours of credit.  (Each course offers individual certificates of completion.)

Counselors:

Telehealth Certification Institute, LLC has been approved by NBCC as an Approved Continuing Education Provider, ACEP No, 6693.  Programs that do not qualify for NBCC credit are clearly identified.  Telehealth Certification Institute, LLC is solely responsible for all aspects of the programs.

Telehealth Certification Institute, LLC is recognized by the New York State Education Department's State Board for Mental Health Practitioners as an approved provider of continuing education for Licensed Mental Health Counselors. #MHC-0048.

Marriage and Family Therapists:

Many MFT licensing boards accept our courses or one of the approvals which we have from professional associations.  You can check with your board to determine if your licensing board would accept this course.

Social Workers:

Telehealth Certification Institute LLC, #1609, is approved as an ACE provider to offer social work continuing education by the Association of Social Work Boards (ASWB) Approved Continuing Education (ACE) program. Regulatory boards are the final authority on courses accepted for continuing education credit. ACE provider approval period: 05/02/2024 – 05/02/2027. Social workers completing this course receive a total of 9 clinical continuing education credits.

Telehealth Certification Institute, LLC is recognized by the New York State Education Department's State Board for Social Work as an approved provider of continuing education for Licensed Social Workers #SW-0435.

Addiction Professionals:
 

This course has been approved by Telehealth Certification Institute LLC, as a NAADAC Approved Education Provider, for educational credits. NAADAC Provider #193104, Telehealth Certification Institute LLC is responsible for all aspects of the programming.

Psychologists:

Telehealth Certification Institute LLC is approved by the American Psychological Association to sponsor continuing education for psychologists. Telehealth Certification Institute LLC maintains responsibility for this program and its content.

Telehealth Certification Institute, LLC is recognized by the New York State Education Department’s State Board for Psychology as an approved provider of continuing education for Licensed Psychologists #PSY-0128.

Art Therapists:

Telehealth Certification Institute, LLC is recognized by the New York State Education Department's State Board for Mental Health Practitioners as an approved provider of continuing education for Licensed Creative Arts Therapists #CAT-0093.

Other Professionals:

This course qualifies for 540 minutes of instructional content as required by many national, state and local licensing boards and professional organizations.  Retain your certificate of completion and contact your board or organization for specific filing requirements.

This course is an-interactive, live online webinar.

Participants may request a printed version of their certificate of completion to be delivered by mail. A shipping/handling fee of $6.95 will be charged per request. Shipping internationally may require an additional charge.

Accommodations and Policies

Close Captioning is available for live webinars and recorded video presentations.

You can click on the following links to view our policies:

• Accommodations for Individuals with Disabilities.
• Cancellation Policy
• Grievance Policy
• Support Options
• Disclosure Statement