Specialized Course
Co-Parenting Does Not Work for Every Family. This Does.
When every communication becomes a confrontation, parallel parenting gives you a structured, court-supported framework to protect your children from ongoing conflict — without requiring cooperation from someone who will not cooperate.
11 modules · 8–10 hours · Self-paced · Certificate upon completion · Your privacy is absolute.
Traditional co-parenting assumes two parents who can communicate respectfully, even when they do not like each other. For many families after separation, that assumption holds.
If you are reading this page, it may not describe yours.
Parallel parenting is not a failure of co-parenting. It is the mature, clinical recognition that in some families, reducing contact between the adults produces a more stable life for the children. Courts understand this. Therapists recommend it. This course teaches you exactly how to build it.
This Course Is For You If...
- Every text from your co-parent triggers a confrontation — or is designed to
- Your children are anxious, withdrawn, or caught in the middle at every transition
- Mediation has failed or been refused
- You have a co-parent with a pattern of control, manipulation, or documented hostility
- You want to formalize a parallel parenting structure that holds up in court
The Complete Parallel Parenting Framework
1. Why This Model Exists and Who It Is For
The clinical and legal history of parallel parenting. Why some families need it — and why choosing it is not 'giving up.'
2. Why Reducing Conflict Matters More Than Cooperation
What the research says about children in high-conflict households. The evidence base for disengagement as a child-protective strategy.
3. Letting Go of Control Without Letting Go of Your Child
The hardest mental shift in parallel parenting: accepting that you cannot control what happens in the other household — and learning to focus energy where it produces results.
4. Communication That Does Not Harm
Email and app-based communication protocols that limit conflict, protect you legally, and create a documented record.
5. Transitions, Exchanges, and Emotional Safety
How to structure handoffs so they are not battlegrounds. Logistics, scripts, and the research on reducing transition-related stress in children.
6. Parallel Parenting Plans and Boundaries
What belongs in a parallel parenting plan, how to get one in place, and how to enforce it when it is violated.
7. School, Activities, and Outside Systems
Managing your child's life — teachers, coaches, medical providers — when you cannot coordinate directly with your co-parent.
8. Managing Interference and Power Struggles
When the other parent violates the plan. Documentation, legal tools, and when to involve your attorney.
9. When Children Resist or Refuse
Understanding child behavior in high-conflict separations. Distinguishing genuine distress from coached behavior. Responding in a way that protects the relationship.
10. Long-Term Outcomes and Emotional Resilience
What children need to thrive in parallel parenting arrangements. The research on long-term outcomes and what factors matter most.
11. Moving Forward With Stability and Confidence
Building a new normal for your family. What parallel parenting looks like when it is working, and how to know if and when to return to a co-parenting model.
11 modules · 8–10 hours · Self-paced
Courts Support This Approach.
This course is accepted by family courts and is frequently cited in parenting plan modifications. A certificate of completion is provided upon finishing all 11 modules.
Many parents submit this certificate as documentation of their commitment to reducing conflict and protecting their children’s welfare. Courts view parallel parenting favorably when co-parenting has demonstrably broken down.
Our guarantee:
If your court does not accept this certificate, we will refund you in full.
How It Works
Enroll.
Secure checkout. Immediate access to all 11 modules.
Complete.
Self-paced, 24/7. 8–10 hours total. No deadline unless your court has set one.
Certificate.
Delivered automatically upon completion of all modules.
Created by the People Courts Trust.
Suzanne Dircks, M.A., LMHC
Licensed Mental Health Counselor · Certified Family Mediator · Former Guardian ad Litem
44 years of private practice in Tacoma, Washington. Over 1,000 Guardian ad Litem investigations in Pierce County Superior Court. She built this curriculum around what she saw parents most needed: a clear, enforceable structure that protects children without requiring cooperation from someone who will not cooperate.
The Honorable Marywave Van Deren, J.D.
Retired Pierce County Superior Court Judge · Division II Court of Appeals Judge
30+ years of family law experience on the bench. Co-developed this curriculum to reflect what courts actually want to see from parallel parenting education and how courts view parallel parenting plans in high-conflict cases.
Frequently Asked Questions
Your Children Deserve Stability. This Is How You Build It.
11 modules. Court-supported framework. Certificate upon completion.
Available 24/7. Your privacy is absolute.