Counseling High Conflict: Navigating the Complexities of High Conflict Divorce

Abstract

Practicing counselors will, at some point, work with clients from high-conflict separations/divorces (HCS/D); however, often they have received very little educational training for these experiences. To effectively treat these clients/client families, all counselors should have a working knowledge of the major processes and critical factors involved in these situations. This manuscript emphasizes the role of the counselor within HCS/D, seeks to give both an overview of and describe the complexities of HCS/D that counselors need to understand, and identifies areas of concern and focus for counselors functioning within distinct modalities.