Services
Counseling Specializations
Four areas of specialized support — each matched to a specific challenge families face in separation and custody disputes.
Co-Parenting Counseling
When custody is contested and communication has broken down, the conflict does not stay in the courtroom. It lives in every pickup, every email, every scheduling dispute. Children feel it — even when both parents are trying to protect them from it.
Co-parenting counseling is not couples therapy. It is practical, structured, and oriented toward one outcome: helping two parents communicate and cooperate well enough that their children are not caught in the middle.
- Communication strategies for high-conflict situations
- Managing the logistics of co-parenting — schedules, decisions, exchanges
- Reducing escalation patterns that put children at risk
- Building a functional co-parenting relationship — not a warm one, a workable one
Suzanne has conducted more than 1,000 Guardian ad Litem investigations. She has seen what high-conflict co-parenting does to children, and she has spent 44 years helping families find a way through it. Her approach is direct and practical — focused on what works, not what sounds good in theory.
Reunification Therapy
When a parent-child relationship has fractured — through alienation, extended absence, or circumstances that led a court to limit contact — rebuilding that relationship requires more than good intentions. It requires structured, professionally guided intervention by a clinician who understands both the emotional and the legal landscape.
Reunification therapy at CCR is designed for families navigating this with the court involved:
- Individual sessions with the child, the requesting parent, and the other parent as appropriate
- A structured, court-aware approach that produces documentation courts and attorneys can rely on
- Clear benchmarks communicated to all parties, including legal counsel
- Progress that is measured, not assumed
Suzanne’s experience as a Guardian ad Litem gives her direct insight into what courts need to see from reunification work — and how to document progress in a way that holds up. This is not a process she approaches casually. Families in this situation deserve a clinician who understands what is at stake.
Divorce & Separation Mediation
Litigation is expensive and unpredictable. A contested custody case that goes to trial places the outcome entirely in a judge’s hands — and often costs far more than either parent expected.
Mediation is a structured alternative. With Suzanne as a neutral third party, parents can work toward custody and parenting plan agreements in a confidential setting — without handing control of the outcome to a courtroom.
As a Certified Family Mediator with 44 years of experience in custody cases, Suzanne brings a level of subject-matter depth that most mediators do not have. She understands parenting plans at the level of specificity that makes them actually work. She knows what provisions create conflict downstream — and how to structure agreements that hold.
- Confidential — what is said in mediation stays in mediation
- Neutral — Suzanne does not advocate for either parent
- Legally informed — agreements can be submitted to the court as part of a parenting plan
- Focused on outcomes that last, not agreements that fall apart in six months
If parents can reach an agreement in mediation, they keep control of the process. That is the goal.
Consultation for Attorneys, GALs, and Court Professionals
Legal practitioners in family law sometimes need a clinical perspective on a custody matter — without the scope and timeline of a formal expert witness engagement. Suzanne offers consultation services for attorneys, Guardians ad Litem, mediators, and other professionals who need experienced clinical input.
Areas of consultation:
- Clinical assessment of co-parenting capacity and parenting functioning
- Expert perspective on alienation dynamics and reunification readiness
- Review of parenting plan proposals from a developmental and clinical standpoint
- GAL investigation support and second-opinion review
Suzanne has conducted more than 1,000 Guardian ad Litem investigations in Washington State. Her perspective is not academic — it is grounded in what actually happens inside these cases, how courts evaluate families, and what documentation holds up.
See the Professionals page for full details on expert services and consultation options →