Coparenting coordination with children who resist or refuse parental contact

Abstract

The literature on high conflict divorce has produced a large number of papers that seek to conceptualize the dynamics that lead a child to be triangulated in the conflict of adults, allied with one of the parents and rejecting the other. Less attention has been given in the literature to the interventions in these cases. This article reviews the conceptualization that has been made over the last 40 years to explain these situations. It suggests an evaluation of the factors involved following a decision tree and proposes interventions for the co-parenting coordinator, with the purpose - provided that the circumstances are appropriate - of re-establishing the child's bond with the rejected parent.