Co-parenting in a Highly Conflicted Separation/Divorce: Learning about Parents and their Experiences of Parenting Coordination, Legal, and Mental Health Interventions

Sixty high-conflict separated/divorced co-parents completed surveys investigating characteristics and dynamics (narcissism, empathy, conflict) that were examined in relation to co-parenting style and parents' experiences of parenting coordination, legal, and mental health interventions. Study findings for this sample did not support common notions found in the literatures on parenting coordination and high-conflict divorce that suggest these parents are often narcissistic or low in empathy. Findings pertaining to all high-conflict participant experiences revealed the presence of common elements across aspects of practitioners and interventions with which they were both satisfied and dissatisfied.