LIVE: Conducting Scientifically Informed Child Custody Evaluations When Parental Alienation and Domestic Violence are Alleged
July 10, 2025 | 9:00 AM - 11:00 AM Pacific
July 10, 2025
9:00 AM - 11:00 AM
Pacific
2 Hours | 2 CEs
$125 Registration | $100 Early Registration (through July 3rd) | Live Training via Zoom
Shawn A. Wygant, MA presents a live virtual professional training program on Conducting Scientifically Informed Child Custody Evaluations When Parental Alienation and Domestic Violence are Alleged.
The literature does not well define the practice of conducting child custody evaluations, leading to a lack of standards for accurately evaluating parental alienation and domestic violence allegations. Child custody evaluators tend to rely on methodological approaches that exclude the application of scientific principles to data analysis, report writing, and expert testimony. They also frequently utilize psychometric instruments incapable of measuring the phenomena of interest.
This training will explore these problems and solutions. A series of de-identified vignettes will explicate parental alienation and domestic violence assessment in the context of conducting a scientifically informed child custody evaluation. Both scientifically reliable and unreliable evaluations will be examined to allow participants to see what it looks like when a child custody evaluation is scientifically informed and what it looks like when it’s not.
Since many high-conflict custody evaluations result in a trial where the evaluator is called to testify, a portion of this training will be devoted to examining how to write a scientifically informed report and provide expert testimony.
The target audience for this program is child custody evaluators at any stage of their career working in child abuse and violence assessment fields.
Key Topics Covered:
- Overview of how to Apply the Scientific Method in Child Custody Evaluation
- Operational Definitions & Working Models for Parental Alienation and Domestic Violence from the Scientific Literature
- Case Vignettes Analysis - Evaluating Allegations of Parental Alienation and Domestic Violence Using the Scientific Literature
- Generating and Testing Hypotheses
- Psychometric Instruments
- Conducting a "Best Interests of the Child Factorial Analysis"
- Report Writing
- Preparing for and Providing Expert Testimony
This training will be interactive, use polls, and have dedicated Q&A and discussion periods.
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
Shawn A. Wygant, MA
Shawn Wygant is a distinguished forensic psychologist with extensive expertise in child custody evaluation, family therapy, and forensic training. He is also a seasoned expert witness renowned for his ability to navigate complex family dynamics in high-conflict domestic relations cases. His speciali...
Learning Objectives
Upon completion of this program you will be able to:
Describe and summarize the steps involved in conducting a child custody evaluation using the scientific method
Describe between scientifically reliable and unreliable ways of analyzing and reporting data
Describe how the scientific literature defines parental alienation and parental alienation syndrome
Describe how the scientific literature defines and differentiates domestic violence typologies (e.g., coercive controlling violence, situational couple violence, violent resistance, and separation-instigated violence)
Describe the psychological tests that do and do not accurately assess for parental alienation and domestic violence
Describe the data analytic and hypothesis testing process involved in weighing each of the best interests of the child factors during the material integration and report writing phase of a child custody evaluation.
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Cancellation Policy
This is a live program only and will not be made available on-demand. If you are unable to attend live, please contact customer service 48 hours before the live event to request a refund.
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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