Your Instructor
44 Years. 1,000+ Investigations. One Reason.
Suzanne Dircks, M.A., LMHC — licensed mental health counselor, certified family mediator, and Guardian ad Litem with four decades of child custody experience in Tacoma and Pierce County, Washington.
The Credential Stack Behind the Certificate
Every certificate from Child Custody Resolutions carries Suzanne’s credential stack. Here is what that means in concrete terms.
Degree
M.A., Antioch University Seattle — child custody and family systems emphasis
License
Licensed Mental Health Counselor (LMHC) — State of Washington
Certification
Certified Family Mediator
Practice
44 years of private practice in Tacoma, Washington — specializing in child custody, divorce, and family separation
Investigations
Over 1,000 Guardian ad Litem investigations in Pierce County Superior Court
Published
Co-author: What Children of Divorce Really Need — evidence-based guidance for parents, attorneys, and mental health professionals
Co-Instructor
The Honorable Marywave Van Deren (Retired)
Retired Pierce County Superior Court Judge and Division II Court of Appeals Judge with 30+ years of judicial experience in family law. Co-developed the curriculum to reflect what courts actually require — not what a course catalog thinks sounds good.
Why This Work
Suzanne did not enter child custody work as a career choice. She entered it because of her own experience navigating a difficult family separation — and the recognition that parents in that situation need something most of them cannot access: a credentialed professional who understands both the clinical and legal dimensions, and who genuinely cares about the outcome for children.
44 years later, her practice still centers on that original insight. The courses, the certificates, the retired judge co-creator — these are not marketing decisions. They are the practical result of four decades of understanding exactly what courts, attorneys, and parents actually need.
The court will accept these certificates because the credential stack is real. And the curriculum covers what matters because Suzanne has spent 1,000+ investigations watching what happens to children when co-parenting fails.
Why a Retired Judge Co-Wrote These Courses
The Honorable Marywave Van Deren spent her judicial career in Pierce County and the Court of Appeals watching co-parenting education done wrong — courses that generated certificates without generating change, courses that satisfied a checkbox and left families exactly where they started.
Co-developing this curriculum was a direct response to that. The structure, the module order, the emphasis on documentation and court-appropriate behavior — these reflect a judge’s understanding of what courts actually want to see, not what a course catalog thinks sounds good.
For attorneys and GALs doing due diligence: this is not a credential borrowed for marketing. It is a curriculum shaped by 30+ years of seeing what family courts require.
The Honorable Marywave Van Deren, J.D.
Retired Pierce County Superior Court Judge · Division II Court of Appeals Judge
- Retired Pierce County Superior Court Judge
- Retired Division II Court of Appeals Judge
- 30+ years judicial experience in family law
- Co-developed curriculum to reflect court requirements and judicial expectations
What This Is For
Every certificate from Child Custody Resolutions represents a parent who made a decision. Not because a court required it, but because they chose to learn something about how to protect their child from the conflict they are living through.
That decision is what Suzanne built this for.
The court will accept these certificates. The curriculum will give parents tools they will use for years. But the work — the actual reason for 44 years in this field — is the child who grows up with two parents who learned, on their own, to protect them from what was happening around them.
Suzanne Dircks, M.A., LMHC — Private Practice
In addition to Child Custody Resolutions, Suzanne maintains a private practice in Tacoma, Washington, serving families navigating separation, custody disputes, and co-parenting challenges.
Phone
253-495-5493Location
Tacoma, Washington
Services
Individual counseling · Co-parenting counseling · Custody mediation · Guardian ad Litem consulting