This one-day workshop will explore the territory of family conflict after separation and divorce in the context of the many ways systemic professionals are likely to meet the phenomenon. The workshop will describe a variety of concepts that demarcate certain parts of this territory from other parts.
The training day will blend together thematic presentations, theory, research, participant exercises and dialogue on the way to a rich understanding of the territory. While post separation conflict may usher in certain positive opportunities for some parents and children the core assumption underlying this workshop is that post separation conflict has the potential to exact a high price in the lives of its participants.
The longer and more intense the conflict the higher the costs in the present and future. The workshop will consider the full range of such conflicts systemic professionals are likely to encounter as well as describing ways that the life-cycle of such conflicts can be abbreviated and the harm to their participants reduced.
Jim Sheehan is a social Worker, family therapist and systemic supervisor. He has been Professor of Family Therapy and Systemic Practice at the VID Specialized University, Oslo, Norway since 2005. Jim was the Director of Family Therapy Training for the Mater/UCD MSc in Systemic Psychotherapy for many years. Among his areas of professional concern is the assistance of families caught in repetitive cycles of postseparation conflict. Through his clinical work in Mater CAMHS and his ongoing Dublinbased private practice he has engaged in a variety of roles directly related to this area of professional practice.
His most recent publication is Sheehan, J. (2018) Family Conflict After Separation and Divorce: Mental Health Professional Interventions in Changing Societies. London: Palgrave. His other publications include Flaskas, McCarthy and Sheehan (Eds.) (2007) Hope and Despair in Narrative and Family Therapy. London: Routledge; Vetere, Stratton, Sheehan, Jensen et al. (Eds.) (2016) Interacting Selves: Systemic solutions for personal and professional development in counselling and psychotherapy. London: Routledge; Vetere and Sheehan (Eds.) (2017) Supervision of Family Therapy and Systemic Practice. New York: Springer; and Vetere and Sheehan (Eds.) (2019, in press) Long Term Systemic Psychotherapy. London: Palgrave.
