LIVE: Conducting Parenting Plan Evaluations in Family Law Cases
February 5, 2026 - February 13, 2026 | 9:00 AM - 12:30 PM Pacific
February 5, 2026 - February 13, 2026
9:00 AM - 12:30 PM
Pacific
14 Hours | 14 CEs
$650 Registration | $600 Early Registration (through January 29th) | Live Virtual Training via Zoom
David A. Martindale, PhD, ABPP (Forensic) and Christopher Mulchay, PhD, ABPP, present a live virtual professional training program on Conducting Parenting Plan Evaluations in Family Law Cases.
This live virtual training takes place over four half-day sessions from 9:00 am - 12:30 pm PST / 12:00 pm - 3:30 pm EST each day.
- Thursday, February 5th
- Friday, February 6th
- Thursday, February 12th
- Friday, February 13th
This is a multi-day training event. Participants must attend all scheduled sessions in full to be eligible to receive continuing education (CE) credit. Partial credit will not be awarded.
This badge-earning program can be shared digitally on platforms like LinkedIn or your resume and counts towards various certificates. Enroll to earn credit and share your new digital credentials with prospective employers and colleagues. This program counts as a foundational program in the certificates:
This program provides an introduction to and an overview of parenting plan evaluations. The presenters will address relocation requests; allegations of intimate partner violence and coercive control; allegations of child sexual abuse; and parent-child contact problems. Participants will learn how to conduct forensic interviews of adults and children; systematically observe parent-child interactions, select appropriate assessment instruments, and administer and interpret the data from psychological tests. Report writing, testimony, and risk management procedures will also be addressed.
This program is designed for Mental health professionals, family law attorneys, and judicial officers will find this program useful regardless of their experience level. This program is intended for mental health professionals who perform parenting plan evaluations, family law attorneys, and judicial officers.
Training outline
Days 1 & 2
- Transitioning from clinical to forensic mindset
- Identifying and avoiding common errors in the performance of parenting plan evaluations
- Risk management considerations in the performance of parenting plan evaluations
- The unique demands of forensic record creation, preservation, and disclosure
- Fundamentals of forensic interviewing
- Assessing the impact on the best interests of the child of possible relocation of a primary caregiver
- Assessing parent-child contact problems
Days 3 & 4
- Assessing allegations of intimate partner violence and coercive control in the context of parenting plan evaluations
- Examining allegations of child sexual abuse in the context of parenting plan evaluations
- Maximizing the usefulness of collateral source information
- Conducting and interpreting parent-child observations
- Formal assessment procedures in parenting plan evaluations
- Structuring and writing reports in parenting plan evaluations
- Preparing for and effectively delivering expert testimony
Intended Audience
This live program is intended for mental health and other allied professionals.
Experience Level
This live program is appropriate for beginner, intermediate, and advanced level clinicians.
CE / CPD Credit
APA, ASWB, CPA, NBCC: Click here for state and other regional board approvals.
Presented By
David A. Martindale, PhD, ABPP (Forensic)
David A. Martindale, Ph.D., ABPP (Forensic) limits his practice to consulting with psychologists, attorneys, and state regulatory boards. He regularly lectures on issues pertaining to evaluations of comparative custodial suitability, served on the AFCC Child Custody Consulting Task Force, and was th...
Presented By
Christopher Mulchay, PhD, ABPP (Forensic)
Chris Mulchay, PhD, ABPP, is the co-author of The Family Law Professional's Field Guide to High-Conflict Litigation: Dynamics, Not Diagnoses. With Jonathan Gould, Dr. Mulchay has co-authored APA's new book on Parenting Plan Evaluations, along with chapters on child custody in both The Oxford Handboo...
Learning Objectives
Upon completion of this program you will be able to:
Describe the key elements of an evaluator’s Explanation of Policies, Procedures, and Fees
Describe the distinctions between clinical and forensic interviewing
Describe the means by which evaluators can maximize the usefulness of collateral source information
Describe the essential elements of a custody evaluation report
Describe the key elements of effective direct testimony
Describe the pertinent factors to be considered in parents’ requests to relocate
Describe the steps to be taken in investigating allegations of intimate partner violence
Describe the essential elements of effective child forensic interviewing
Describe the distinctions between alienation, estrangement, alignment, and visitation resistance
Live Event Policy
Registration for our live events is covered for one (1) person per purchase. If you would like to purchase for a group, please contact our group training team.
Event Communications
When registering, use an email that is active and that you check regularly. We are not responsible for communications not being received; if you do not add caps@paloaltou.edu to your email safe sender list, our emails are likely to end up in your spam or junk folders.
Cancellation Policy
Have a sudden change of plans and are unable to attend live? No worries; you will be given access to the on-demand version of the program once available. Please note if you attend live, no access to the recording will be given.
Event Conduct
Professional conduct is expected during our live programs. Our goal is to make our events as interactive as possible for all participants. We reserve the right to remove any participants who are disruptive, act unprofessionally, or who we are unable to verify their purchase.
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