Family Therapy and the Law:
Providing Ethical Support for Clients During Legal Proceedings and
What Lawyers Wish Therapists Knew about the Process
Friday, May 2, 2025
10:00 a.m. – 12:15 p.m.
Richmont’s Chattanooga Campus
Workshop Description
This workshop will provide an introduction to legal nomenclature, family law procedural descriptions and understanding of a family lawyer’s general boundaries. Ethical dilemmas and therapeutic approaches for clinicians working with individuals, couples and families navigating the family court system will also be discussed.
Presenters: Lorrie Slater, PhD, LMFT, LPC and Timothy B. Ballard, ESQ, Attorney at Law
Dr. Lorrie Slater is a licensed Marriage and Family Therapist, as well as a Licensed Professional Counselor with mental health care provider and supervisor status. She is the Director of Richmont Graduate University’s Henegar Counseling Center. Dr. Slater is dedicated to providing the most ethical and therapeutic support for clients as they navigate life during difficult legal processes such as divorce, mediation, custody disputes, conflictual custody and/or parenting plans as well as cooperative parenting between divorced parents including the introduction of stepparents/siblings. Throughout her career, Dr. Slater has earned the reputation with the court system of being insightful, impartial, and fair when working with difficult family dynamics. She receives referrals from Judges and attorneys who trust her care of their clients, as well as previous clients who have benefited from her realistic understanding of the court systems. Her therapeutic approach utilizes interpersonal, internal family systems, psychodynamic and mindfulness techniques to empower clients as they navigate traumatic family reorganization.
Timothy Ballard is a partner of the law firm Evans Harrison Hackett, PLLC. His practice primarily focuses on domestic relations (“family law”), and he has extensive experience litigating not only custody disputes and significant marital estates, but more nuanced family law cases such as contested adoptions, grandparent visitation, Juvenile Court matters, and nearly everything in-between. He has been featured in both local and national publications highlighting his early success and has developed a reputation for prudence and tenacity in advising clients from all walks of life. In addition to his work on behalf of private clients, Tim regularly serves as a Guardian ad Litem at the request of judges and attorneys.
Tim is a member of the Ray L. Brock and Robert E. Cooper American Inn of Court and has served as a board member for the Chattanooga Bar Association, Young Lawyers Division, for over seven years.
Learning Objectives: Participants in the workshop will learn to:
Discuss legal jargon, clinician responsibility and limitations of both the legal system as well as clinician involvement in the legal process. Ethical boundaries between therapy and legal proceedings will also be discussed.
Describe ethical obligation and legal requirements when working with conflictual family dynamics.
Apply therapeutic approaches when working with families in conflict navigating family court.
Continuing Education: 2 CE Hours Available
Target Audience: Multi-discipline clinicians; Psychologists, Marriage and Family Therapists, Professional Counselors, Social Workers, Interns and Graduate Students. May also be applicable to Family Lawyers.
Instruction Level: Appropriate for all levels.
Schedule of the Day
One 15-minute break will be provided.
Refund policy: In order to receive a refund, requests must be submitted prior to April 25, 2025.
For questions, please contact Amy Estes at ContinuingEd@Richmont.edu or 404-835-6128.
There is no known commercial support for this program.
Richmont Graduate University has been approved by NBCC as an Approved Continuing Education Provider, ACEP No. 4534. Programs that do not qualify for NBCC credit are clearly identified. Richmont Graduate University is solely responsible for all aspects of the programs.
Presentation References:
Braver, S.L., Sandler, I.N., Hita, C.H., & Wheeler, L.A. (2016). A randomized comparative effectiveness trial of two court connected programs for high conflict families. Family Court Review, 54(3), 349-363.
Dillon, P.A., Emery, R.E. (1996). Divorce mediation and resolution of child custody disputes: Long-term effects. American Journal of Orthospsychiatry, 66(1), 130-140.
Emery, R.E., Rowen, J., & Dinescu, D. (2014). New roles for family therapists in Courts: An overview with a focus on custody dispute resolution. Family Process, 53(3), 500-515. Doi:10.1111/famp.12077
Garrison, E.G. (1991). Children’s competence to participate in divorce custody decisionmaking. Journal of Clinical Child Psychology, 20(1), 78-87.
Harman, J.J., Lorandos, D. (2021). Allegations of family violence in court: How parental alienation affects judicial outcomes. Psychology, Public policy and Law, 27(2), 184-208. https//doi.org/10.1037/law0000301
Hendricks, B., Ordway, A., Bradley, L., Noble, N. (2020). James and the Megan family: Navigating court and allegations of abuse. The Family Journal: Counseling and Therapy for Couples and Families, 28(3), 229-235.
Lebow, J., Rekart, K.N., (2006). Integrative family therapy for high-conflict divorce with Disputes over child custody and visitation, Family Process, 46(1), 79-91.
Stephens, T.N., Katz, C.C., Pisciotta, C. & Lens, V. (2021). A view from the other side: How parents and their representatives view family court. Family Court Review, 59(3), 491-507, doi:10.1111/fcre.12590
Waller, M.R., Emory, A.D., (2018). Visitation orders, family courts, and fragile families Journal of Marriage and Family, 80, 653-670 DOI:10.111/jomf.12480
