In addition to Family Camp and Professional Trainings, Overcoming Barriers has published several books that provide both practical tools and in-depth academic resource materials to aid families and professionals in understanding and handling the challenges of high conflict families. All sales proceeds go to support the work of Overcoming Barriers.

Overcoming the CoParenting Trap: Essential Parenting Skills When a Child Resists a Parent by Dr. John Moran, Tyler Sullivan and Dr. Matthew Sullivan

A child’s resistance or refusal to spend time with a parent can develop suddenly or over time. It can be a result of a multitude of reasons, e.g. poor parenting by either or both parents, intense marital conflict, a particular child’s individual emotional vulnerabilities. Regardless of the source or timing of the problem, such situations pose serious risks to the children and anguish to the parents. This book provides both resisted and preferred parents insight into the source of the issue, skills for parenting a child in such circumstances and ideas for developing a coparenting relationship that allows the child to have a safe, secure relationship with both parents.

This useful book is a tool that many legal and mental health professionals provide to their clients to assist their clients in improving coparent interactions.

“
Overcoming the Co-Parenting Trap is an important, excellent, and easy to use resource for parents (and professionals) when a child resists contact with mom or dad. Within a family systems framework, “Overcoming…” focuses on developing more effective strategies, skills, and goals for both preferred and resisted parents. Particularly helpful are concrete examples of problematic communications and behaviors followed by alternative suggestions likely to create a more positive effect in improving co-parenting and parent-child relationships disrupted by separation or divorce.”  

–  Joan B. Kelly, Ph.D. – Northern California Mediation Center, author of Surviving the Breakup: How Children and Parents Cope with Divorce

“Overcoming the Co-Parenting Trap:  Essential Parenting Skills When a Child Resists a Parent is a resource that I have used in my divorce and family law practice on a number of occasions to provide clients (both “Resisted Parents” and “Preferred Parents”) with an introduction to the concept of effective co-parenting under the strain of the extremely difficult circumstances that arise when a child resists contact with a parent.  For many, these are completely foreign subjects.  I have had some parents ask me exactly what I mean when I refer to “co-parenting.”  Others question me on the exact meaning of “effective co-parenting.”  Still others can neither fathom the damage to a child who resists contact with a parent, nor grasp the concept of acquiring and honing specialized skills to deal with such a situation.  This book provides answers.  It identifies the problems and discusses various skills to solve them.  What I like most about the book is that there are sections dedicated to both Resisted Parents and Preferred Parents.  Some I’ve found only focus on only one section.  Others read on – interested in understanding the problem from the other side’s perspective.  An easy read – well organized – and a terrific ongoing reference guide – I highly recommend this book to others.  

-Jeffrey A. Soilson, Fitch Law Partners LLP, Boston (Family Law Attorney, Fellow and President-Elect of the MA-AAML)

Overcoming Parent-Child Contact Problems: Family Based Interventions For Children’s Resistance, Rejection and Alienation  

Oxford University Press publisher.  Edited by Drs. Abigail Judge & Robin Deutsch

This volume is a must read for clinical and legal professionals working with high-conflict families and especially families in which a child is resisting or refusing contact with a parent. It provides insight into family-based interventions, giving a review of the indicators, models and clinical challenges when working with such families. It provides an in-depth review of The Overcoming Barriers Approach informed by a wide range of research evidence.

Contributors to the book include OCB Founders, Drs. Robin Deutsch, Matt Sullivan and Peggie Ward; respected author Dr. Barbara Fidler; Dr. Rebecca Bailey of Transitioning Families, Dr. Michael Saini of the University of Toronto; Dr John Moran of the OCB Board, Dr. Abigail Judge of Harvard Medical School; and commentary by Professor Nicolas Bala, Dr. Janet Johnston, and Dr. Leslie Drozd.

“Overcoming Parent-Child Contact Problems is a timely and thoughtful contribution to the vexing challenge of reintegrating the family when children resist contact.  The authors describe the key elements of their ground-breaking program, provide practical techniques clinicians can use in their practice today, and provide concepts that family law attorneys and judges can use in crafting orders tomorrow.  Read this book!”  Angus Strachan, Ph.D. Clinical Psychologist and Assistant Clinical Professor of Psychiatry, UCLA.