Foundations for Working With Families Engaged in High Conflict Divorce

Description

Children living through high-conflict divorce are often caught in the emotional crossfire—confused, dysregulated, and desperate for stability. Clinicians working with these families face intense emotional dynamics, legal complexity, and systemic chaos that demand far more than standard clinical training.

In this self-paced CE course, you’ll learn how to step into this highly charged environment with clarity, structure, and therapeutic presence—supporting children through play while skillfully navigating parental conflict and court involvement.

Kris Marowski, M.Ed., LPC, RPT-S, ACS, CCMHC, NCC brings over 16 years of experience working with children and families impacted by trauma, separation, and systemic stress. As a Registered Play Therapist Supervisor and clinician with extensive experience in court-involved cases, Kris offers the insight, strategies, and structure clinicians need to do this work well.

Using child-centered play therapy principles and a trauma-informed lens, Kris guides participants through a reconceptualization of clinical work with families in high conflict divorce—teaching therapists how to protect their role, stay out of triangulation, and offer impactful support to the child without becoming overwhelmed by parental dynamics.

This course explores the emotional, ethical, procedural, and practical complexities of working with court-involved families, including how to develop clinical structure, clarify your role, conduct screenings, create effective informed consent, build collaborative treatment teams, and maintain a play-focused lens in the midst of chaos.

Key Takeaways:

• Establish a solid clinical frame: Learn how to reconceptualize your therapeutic role using play therapy principles to protect your neutrality and focus.
  
  
• Support children through chaos: Gain specific child-centered interventions and techniques that help children feel safe and understood even in contentious family environments.
  
  
• Communicate effectively with parents: Build clarity and consistency into your work with separated and divorcing parents while avoiding common legal and ethical pitfalls.

Why This Course?

• Specialized content you won’t find elsewhere: This course goes beyond theory to address real-world challenges clinicians face in family court-involved therapy.
  
  
• Instructor expertise you can trust: Kris Marowski has walked this road with hundreds of families and now equips you with the same tools that have proven effective in practice.
  
  
• Aligned with our mission: Telehealth Certification Institute is committed to empowering clinicians with exceptional continuing education rooted in excellence, integrity, and practical skill.

Learning Objectives:

• Re-conceptualize the frame, based on play therapy principles, for working with families engaged in high-conflict divorce
  
  
• Identify 3 clinician attitudes that are beneficial when working with families engaged in high-conflict divorce.
  
  
• Name 4 theoretical principles on which to base play therapy interventions when working with families engaged in high-conflict divorce.
  
  
• Describe 3 practices to adopt providing play therapy services to families engaged in high-conflict divorce.
  
  
• Experience 2 play therapy techniques that may improve outcomes when working with families engaged in high-conflict divorce.
  
  
• Document and commit to 3 action steps, based on the information provided during the training, that will prepare participants to provide play therapy services to families engaged in high-conflict divorce.
  
  
• List resources for improving clinical competency when utilizing play therapy with families engaged in high-conflict divorce.

In a world where families in conflict are increasingly seeking help, your ability to offer grounded, compassionate, and ethical care can make a profound difference. Let this course be the foundation that strengthens your work in this complex and meaningful area of practice.

Enroll today and equip yourself with the tools to make a powerful impact in the lives of children and families navigating high-conflict divorce.

Format and Access

This is a non-interactive, self-study course. Instruction consists of 3 hours of video instruction and a post-test.

Course Details

Suggested Supplies:

We suggest the following supplies are available, if possible, during the training (for an experiential, play therapy intervention. (Not required in order to participate.)

• Several packets of model magic (any color)
• Small (5x8) silver, disposable tray with no holes
• A variety of sticks and twigs
• Approximately 8 oz of water

Availability: 

From the time of registration, you have six months to access the coursework.

Who Should Attend: 

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

Teaching Methods: 

This is a non-interactive, self-study course. Teaching methods for this course include recorded lectures, videos, a post-test, and a course evaluation.

How to Attend: 

Course access and completion instructions.

Instructor and Disclosures

Instructor

Kris Marowski, M.Ed., LPC, RPT-S, ACS, CCMHC, NCC 

Kris is a Licensed Professional Counselor and Registered Play Therapist Supervisor. She has worked with children, adolescents and families for over 16 years, providing play therapy, individual counseling, and family counseling. She specializes in working with children that have survived trauma. Kris has extensive experience working with children whose parents are separated or are divorcing, who serve in the military and/or who are first responders. Kris offers parents specific, tangible skills that they can utilize at home to create desired changes and connect with their children in a more meaningful way. She practices primarily from a child-centered perspective, incorporating Jungian, Existential, and Cognitive Behavioral approaches to increase the effectiveness of counseling. She provides a safe, supportive environment where parents, children, and adolescents can process through difficult life experiences and develop a sense of mastery over them.

Kris completed her Bachelor of Arts (B.A) in Psychology from Elmira College in 1999 and earned a Masters of Education Degree (M.Ed) in Counseling and Human Development with a specialization in Mental Health Counseling from Lindsey Wilson College in 2005. She went on to become credentialed as a Nationally Certified Counselor (NCC) and Certified Clinical Mental Health Counselor (CCMHC) while completing her Play Therapy certification. Kris is currently working toward becoming a Sandplay Practitioner through Sandplay Therapists of America.

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 3 continuing education hours of credit.

Play therapy credit available to mental health professionals & graduate students in a mental health program.

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.

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 marriage and family therapists #MFT-0135, effective May 8, 2025.

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 3 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.

Play Therapists:

Telehealth Certification Institute LLC has been approved as a continuing education provider by the Association for Play Therapy: APT Approved Provider 21-633. Per the Association for Play Therapy (APT), play therapy training may not be awarded to non-mental health professionals. APT alone holds the right to accept or deny any continuing education training at its discretion. This course qualifies as 3 non-contact continuing education Play Therapy credit.

Addiction Professionals:

This course has been approved by Telehealth Certification Institute LLC, as a NAADAC Approved Education Provider, for educational credits, effective 2/9/2022. 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 180 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 is a non-interactive, self-study course.

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