Child Custody Evaluations

During the course of a divorce, matters related to the well being and best interests of children of divorcing families are sometimes very difficult for some couples to resolve. When the divorcing couple cannot establish plans for child custody and co-parenting, even with the skilled effort of their attorneys and/or through mediation, a trial will be held and a judge will decide these issues. A child custody evaluation is intended to provide the court with information that the judge can consider in reaching a decision that is in the best interests of the child(ren).

The child custody evaluation is an objective assessment of the child(ren's) needs and each parent's ability to meet those needs. The ultimate goal of the assessment is to provide information to facilitate a judgment that is most conducive to the child (ren's) well-being and that ultimately offers them the greatest potential for positive adjustment to the divorce. In accomplishing this, each parent's strengths and weaknesses are considered as well as factors that may make effective parenting or co-parenting a challenge.

A comprehensive and informative child custody evaluation will include parent interviews, interviews with the child(ren), observations of parent-child interaction, some psychological testing, and interviews with individuals outside the family that may help provide important information. This can be a very stressful and time intensive endeavor for the parties involved. It is important to work with a clinician that is knowledgeable, ethical, professional, and who helps mediate undue stress on the children while effectively gathering and skillfully integrating the data necessary to help the court in it's decision.

Dr. David Hanson of Associates in Therapy and Assessment employs professional integrity and knowledge of the developing needs of children, established as both a clinical psychologist and as a former educator in the public schools; an appreciation of the dynamics of family functioning; and an understanding of the complex dynamics of divorce in the child custody evaluations he provides. He brings to each child custody evaluation his specialized training and experience in custody evaluation with some of the country's most respected clinicians, as well as his skill in the gathering and integrating of data in hundreds of psychological evaluations and specialized assessments with children, adolescents, and adults. His specialized knowledge and experience in the assessment of problematic sexual behavior in children, adolescents, and adults, as well his previous research in the area of domestic violence are important qualities when considering these potentially difficult aspects of some child custody evaluations. In addition, he is co-facilitator of Associates in Therapy and Assessment's Men and Divorce Group and continues to work with children and families in therapy whose lives have been impacted by divorce.

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David Hanson, Psy.D.