Parenting Plan in Overland Park
Licensed Clinical Professional Counselor (LCPC)
A parenting plan is a written document that outlines how parents will raise their children after separation or divorce. Parents work together to come up with a plan that considers what is best for their children. The parenting plan helps all members of the family to know what is expected of them.
A Parenting Plan May Include
- The weekly plan on how much time children will spend with each parent
- Major decision making
- Holidays and special days
- School and Summertime
- Parental communication
- Ongoing communication with your child
- How parental disputes will be resolved
Unique to Your Family
There is not one best parenting plan that families should adopt and follow, as it depends on the unique circumstances and specific needs of family members. In developing a parenting plan with Terri Dichiser will have you discuss the ages of the children and their developmental needs, the children’s school schedules, extracurricular activities, the parents’ work schedules, scheduling for holidays, the distance between the parents’ homes, special needs of the children including disabilities or health concerns, and mental health needs of the parent.
Other Topics to Address in Co-Parenting Therapy
There are many critical and important topics to address in creating a healthy long-term parenting relationship. How to respect the other's parenting rules and address those you are concerned with; avoid making disparaging remarks and criticism of the other parent, avoid placing children in the middle of an argument, keeping promises, being flexible, how to accommodate parent’s requests, making transitions as comfortable as possible for the child and respecting each other's privacy.
Parenting Plan Revisited
While the co-parenting plan should usually be highly structured at the beginning, over time, flexibility and compromise are encouraged. Changes to the plan over time are inevitable as parenting arrangements require reevaluation and change, based on children's changing developmental needs and the parents' changing circumstances.
Areas of conflict regarding parenting can be anticipated; issues such as changing job demands, relocation, and how to deal with children's changing developmental needs. Remarriage or cohabitation and stepfamily formation may affect co-parenting in a significant way, as the problem of mistrust often reemerges when new members join the family
Co-Parenting Therapy Helps
In the midst of pain, loss and conflict it is often hard to work with the person you are in conflict with to create a thoughtful plan for your children. Seeking out the assistance of Terri Clinton Dichiser who can guide you through the development or revision of a parenting plan that leads to better results for your whole family.
If only one parent will attend, we can discuss how to work with your co-parent in creating and implementing a parenting. If both will attend, we will work together to create, maintain or review a parenting plan. The most critical part of having an effective parenting plan is to focus on changing negative emotional patterns, learning and implementing new emotional patterns and reducing conflict.
What if I’m not ready to schedule, but just have some questions about the parenting plan process?
We realize taking that first step into counseling can be a difficult one. The last thing we want is for clients to feel pressured to make an appointment. Our goal is to provide as much information as possible so you can make the best decision on how to proceed. There is no pressure to schedule an appointment.
Take Charge, Inc. is located in Overland Park, KS. Click Here to send us an email or call with your questions and our staff will give you all the information you need about our services.