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Have a quick question to be explored on the show? Send us a text message! Include your email address if you would like a personal response. Click HERE Diane & Rick are taking a short break. To round out season four, they are featuring interviews where they were guests on other podcasts! This week they join Karen McMahon of the Journey Beyond Divorce podcast and discuss strategies to live peacefully despite having a high-conflict co-parent. Also explored is the six-step process to easier co-paren...

Have a quick question to be explored on the show? Send us a text message! Include your email address if you would like a personal response. Click HERE Diane & Rick are taking a short break. To round out season four, they are featuring interviews where they were guests on other podcasts! This week they join Michelle Dempsey-Multack of the Moms Moving On podcast and discuss what it means to be a non-impossible co-parent and helpful communication strategies with a difficult ex. WHAT’S HAPPENING LIN...

Have a quick question to be explored on the show? Send us a text message! Include your email address if you would like a personal response. Click HERE Diane & Rick join Seth and Pete of How to Split a Toaster for an engaging conversation about the DRAGON method of approaching co-parent conflict. They explore how parents can conquer their fear of communicating with a difficult ex. WHAT’S HAPPENING LINKS: Attend the weekly Hump Day Wednesdays for only $10/month (exclusively for Patreon VIPs), resu...

Have a quick question to be explored on the show? Send us a text message! Include your email address if you would like a personal response. Click HERE Diane & Rick are taking a short break. To round out season four, they are featuring interviews where they were guests on other podcasts! This week, they share the interview they did with Sarah Edmondson and Nippy Ames of the A Little Bit Culty Podcast. Sarah and Nippy were featured on the popular HBO docuseries, The Vow , which explored the abuses...

Have a quick question to be explored on the show? Send us a text message! Include your email address if you would like a personal response. Click HERE Listener Sherry emails about her concern that her co-parent is not paying attention to their infant’s medical needs. But when the girlfriend enters the picture, things blow up. Diane & Rick discuss the importance of not alienating support people from the mix, especially when it involves a child who cannot speak for herself. WHAT’S HAPPENING LINKS:...

Have a quick question to be explored on the show? Send us a text message! Include your email address if you would like a personal response. Click HERE Diane & Rick explore how AI might assist co-parents in constructing productive co-parent communication. What they learn is that AI has not yet learned enough about toxic people to understand how certain types of communication may feed into their motivations, instead of managing them. They conclude it could be a helpful resource, but is not yet rea...

Have a quick question to be explored on the show? Send us a text message! Include your email address if you would like a personal response. Click HERE Listener Veronique shares that she is paying for all her children’s activities, but they have no idea their other parent is shirking his responsibility. Is this protecting the kids or hurting them? Will they just take advantage of mom if they don’t know it’s hard for her to bear this financial burden alone? Diane & Rick discuss that saying”no” to ...

Have a quick question to be explored on the show? Send us a text message! Include your email address if you would like a personal response. Click HERE Diane & Rick respond passionately to Danielle’s email about feeling the need to file a court case, knowing it will only embolden her co-parent to continue his campaign against her. They discuss the risks/benefits and the true dilemma she faces in making this very difficult decision. Also explored are the ways to navigate parenting while managing a...

Have a quick question to be explored on the show? Send us a text message! Include your email address if you would like a personal response. Click HERE Listener Robert wants to know what an acceptable amount of co-parent communication is when two co-parents are getting along well. His recent relationship tanked when his girlfriend couldn’t abide his overly friendly interactions with his ex. Diane & Rick explore the need for boundaries and how kids can blame a new partner when the relationship be...

Have a quick question to be explored on the show? Send us a text message! Include your email address if you would like a personal response. Click HERE Diane & Rick explore the possibilities of transforming the parental alienator when he/she grows emotionally over time. They discuss the importance of BOTH parents recognizing the passage of time and respecting their child’s developmental growth. The parent who accuses the other of alienation can have more responsibility in the process than they ma...

Have a quick question to be explored on the show? Send us a text message! Include your email address if you would like a personal response. Click HERE Jake, a mental health professional, joins Diane & Rick on this episode to tell his story of dealing with narcissistic abuse and alienation from his mother growing up. They discuss how it felt to him as a teen, how he came to realize his mother’s disorder, and how he reconnected with his father, who represented Jake’s emotional place of safety. The...

Have a quick question to be explored on the show? Send us a text message! Include your email address if you would like a personal response. Click HERE In part one of a three-part series on parental alienation, the hosts take a complicated look at the phrase "parental alienation" and what the various forms are. They discuss the oversimplification of this issue in the family court system, and the desensitization professionals experience as a result of it being over-used as a defense strategy. Part...

Have a quick question? Send us a text message! Click HERE Diane & Rick discuss the fallacies of traditional “anger management”. They also talk about different types and reasons for anger, and how it is important to respect the nuances, especially when dealing with an impossible parent. They explore the responsibilities co-parents have to manage anger appropriately for the sake of the children, and the dangers of allowing anger to fester before and after divorce. Go to Patreon .com/CPDilemmas to ...

Have a quick question? Send us a text message! Click HERE Listener Maria asks what she can do to run interference with her kids when their step-mother seems bent on turning them against their mom. Even dad has apologized to mom for his wife’s behavior, but he does little to make things better for the kids. Diane & Rick discuss what can and can’t be done when a person who is not a party to the legal parenting plan wreaks havoc on the family system. Go to Patreon .com/CPDilemmas to become a Non-I...

Have a quick question? Send us a text message! Click HERE Diane & Rick explore self care from the perspective of working on the root cause of co-parent stress, rather than treating the symptoms of the stress. They discuss it from the point of you of the divorce professional, as well as those in the midst of a toxic co-parent relationship. Also explored is the importance of understanding your process and developing a mission statement for your work or children. To find Dr. Childress’ book, go to...

Have a quick question? Send us a text message! Click HERE John asks the all-important question, “Should I fight?” Diane & Rick break down the risks and benefits of letting go vs. holding on to the conflict. They explore the complexity of balancing children’s needs with parental rights and conclude that so much depends on the type and temperament of the other parent. S4.E34. is the show Diane refers to in this episode about how to decide where to set your boundaries regarding parenting plan flexi...

Have a quick question? Send us a text message! Click HERE Diane & Rick take a week off to spend time with their families, so today’s episode is featuring a new podcast created by a Co-Parent Dilemmas listener! Jack, the host, speaks poignantly about what he’s learned as an alienated dad and how he maintains a strong bond with his children, despite the mountain of obstacles his co-parent puts in their way. Even though it’s releasing on Mother’s Day, a parent is a parent, no matter the label. So, ...

Has the co-parent world gone absolutely crazy? In some ways, yes! Diane & Rick discuss the disturbing patterns they often see in their work, and hear about from listeners, that signal the need for an evolutionary change in thinking for those who suffer their co-parent’s psychopathic behaviors. The hosts discuss the importance of accepting the chronic toxicity, but addressing the acute moments of panic by finding out what children need in the here and now. WANT SPECIAL DISCOUNTS ON POPULAR PRODU...

Claire writes in and asks what to do about a co-parent who takes more than 5 minutes to say goodbye to their daughter at each exchange. Diane & Rick discuss the importance of taking care during exchanges to send the message that parents will be okay, no matter which house the child WANT SPECIAL DISCOUNTS ON POPULAR PRODUCTS AND SERVICES FOR CO-PARENTS? Check out our OFFERS page at www.CPDilemmas.com/offers to link to vendor discount codes. WE HAVE A NEW RESOURCES PAGE ON THE WEBSITE! Visit www...

Listener Amanda writes to Diane & Rick regarding her co-parent’s complaint about their daughter’s activities being too inconvenient for him and his spouse to endure. The hosts discuss the concept of time with children being the co-parents’ “turn” to be responsible, not their time to dominate the child’s interests. They also explore alternative language to their parenting plan regarding major decision making. WE HAVE A NEW RESOURCES PAGE ON THE WEBSITE! Visit www .CPDilemmas.com/resources to view...

Listener Ashley is frustrated by both her husband and her co-parent. She frequently finds herself caught between them, and none of it is helpful to her 12-year-old son. Diane & Rick explore the difficulties of navigating this dilemma, and discuss both sides of the equation. WE HAVE A NEW RESOURCES PAGE ON THE WEBSITE! Visit www .CPDilemmas.com/resources to view the email protocol, 20 Responses to Difficult Co-Parents, and other documents discussed on the podcast. We are excited to announce a ne...

Diane & Rick respond to a listener’s question about withholding parenting time due to a history of domestic violence and continued toxicity in their other home. What are the steps to determine safety issues? How do parents balance protecting children with the risk of being accused of parental alienation? The co-hosts break it down. WE HAVE A NEW RESOURCES PAGE ON THE WEBSITE! Visit www .CPDilemmas.com/resources to view the email protocol, 20 Responses to Difficult Co-Parents, and other documents...

Diane and Rick answer listener Carlos’ question about the confusing paragraph in his parenting plan regarding the summer schedule. His co-parent is attempting to manipulate the schedule to get more time than the plan intends. The hosts discuss alternative ways to structure a plan like this and the importance of minimizing conflict for the children so they can enjoy their summer vacation. WE HAVE A NEW RESOURCES PAGE ON THE WEBSITE! Visit www .CPDilemmas.com/resources to view the email protocol, ...

Listener Colleen wants to stop communicating with her co-parent so she can get emotional relief. Diane & Rick revisit the importance of following the structured email protocol and talk about the pitfalls of going silent or ignoring the impossible co-parent. WE HAVE A NEW RESOURCES PAGE ON THE WEBSITE! Visit www .CPDilemmas.com/resources to view the email protocol, 20 Responses to Difficult Co-Parents, and other documents discussed on out podcast. We are excited to announce a new benefit for list...