I have performed many court ordered forensic evaluations regarding the best interests of children in custody and visitation litigation. Additionally, I have had many years of experience as a "case manager," and as a "parent coordinator." I am currently actively involved in developing the State's first professional group of "parent coordinators," in Nassau County, highly qualified and experienced professionals who may greatly assist distressed parents and their children experiencing the anguish of marital dissolution and custodial conflict. I am also involved in the development of a Forensic Division within the New York State Psychological Association. I have volunteered to participate in an APA Task Force which will examine forensic psychological issues. The suffering of children who must endure their parents’ escalating high conflict divorces will ultimately be measured by these children’s impaired emotional adjustments, involvement with substance abuse, reduced academic achievement and failure to develop to expectations.
I wish to bring to the Commission's attention my observation that parents experiencing a disputed custody conflict are themselves primarily suffering from an emotional disorder in as much as their condition reflects an inability to peacefully and civilly resolve their dispute in a manner, which as much as possible, preserves the emotional integrity and well being of the children of such families. The acutely psychological nature of these parents’ conditions and the distress they bring to their children necessitates examining their behavior, emotions and potentialities in order to formulate best interest, conflict reducing strategies. Forensic psychologists can prepare highly professional evaluations of such families, which may assist courts in understanding the depth and emotional complexity of the conditions such families endure, and as such provide sound recommendations for the resolution of these conflicts in a manner consistent with the training and experience of such experts. The undeniably profound psychological nature of child custody conflicts necessitates that psychologists be given the opportunity to make their unique contribution to the judicial decision making process if the best mental health and emotional needs of children is the ultimate criterion courts will rely upon. Court ordered psychological evaluations should always include recommendations for concurrent as well as post judgment treatment and intervention as well as professional information regarding the issue of the ultimate disposition of the conflict. Children suffer regardless of whether the case is pre-trial or post judgment. All decision making must and should be "fully informed decision making," based upon the best available mental health assessments and recommendations possible. Decision making without the best mental health assessments and recommendations possible is a disservice to the best interests and needs of children, when conditions of high conflict are present.
Additionally, psychologists are rapidly developing models for reducing family conflict through the use of "parent coordination," and "case management" techniques. These developments have, in my experience, greatly benefited the parents and children of families, which would otherwise have been harmfully destabilized without such interventions. The parents I have worked with have come to realize the expertise, guidance and good advice of professionals such as myself who try to teach the understanding that the love of children and recognition of their needs must exceed the anger and vengeance of their parents. We also try to educate warring parents that the issue of “correct and incorrect,” “better and worse,” “right and wrong,” parenting while having merit for constructive dialogue, compromise and civil decision making, may be decided upon by favoring the parent who advocates the so called better alternative, though the result may still be children who suffer greatly. Parental conflict, per se, creates profound emotional damage regardless of “correct and incorrect,” “better and worse,” “right and wrong.” Our highly adversarial judicial system incentivizes conflict related decision making, based upon the “best interest doctrine,” though fails to fully recognize that the adversarial decision making process itself, absent adequate incentives for treatment of the parents’ unnecessary profoundly dysfunctional interactions may in the ultimate analysis not be the best our courts can do for the children who must endure such conflict. Thus, I recommend that the current judicial implementation of the “best interest doctrine,” be reexamined to consider the possibility that the addition of appropriate and recommended treatment may enhance the realization of the best interests of children of high conflict divorce.
Our system should be modified to include more integrated concurrent treatment by referring high conflict cases to professionals highly qualified in forensics and family intervention techniques in order to develop greater civility, alternative dispute resolution and effective problem solving at every step of the judicial process in order to reduce the incentives for maintaining conflict, while enhancing the incentives for constructive engagement and problem solving. I fully believe court appointed forensic psychologists should assist courts with recommendations which will reduce the incentives for conflict while enhancing the incentives for constructive alternatives. Thus, court orders appointing forensic psychologists should also require recommendations for concurrent and post judgment treatment as well as recommendations regarding the psychological condition of the family. In many cases the judicial process itself might better be temporarily halted until treatment efforts can be instituted and their efficacy carefully examined. The kind of treatment that matters in high conflict cases is present oriented rather than retrospective. Assisting conflicting parents to redefine their understandings of their child-damaging conflicts as resulting from a deficit in current oriented problem solving skills and insight has shown great effectiveness. Incentivizing the attainment of civility through the use of improved separated parents interactive skills should be addressed by the Commission.
In consideration of these views, I hope that the Commission will attempt to encourage more progress in our State in furthering the use of highly experienced psychologists in child custody and visitation matters to enable the State's children of divorce to have every unobstructed opportunity available to them to avoid the pitfalls of continuing conflict and litigation. Enhancing the incentives for constructive alternatives to high conflict should be carefully considered by the Commission. It is my firm belief that the use of highly qualified and experienced psychologists in child custody and visitation cases reduces litigation and hence reduces the emotional consequences of continual parental conflict and triangulation of children, with all the mental health consequences implied when such conditions are allowed to remain unabated.
I plan on presenting information regarding my recommendations regarding the qualifications of such experts if the Miller Commission permits me to testify.
Thanking you in advance for your consideration,
Sincerely,
Raymond J. Havlicek, PhD
Diplomate in Clinical Psychology, American Board of professional Psychology
Fellow, American Academy of Clinical Psychology
Certificate of Proficiency, APA College of Professional Psychology in Substance Abuse
Forensic and Clinical Psychologist