For Professionals
For Attorneys, Law Firms, and Mental Health organizations
Divorce Professionals Creed: A New Standard of Care for Kids’ Mental Health
Divorce is more than a legal process—it’s an emotional earthquake for kids. Parental separation is classified as an Adverse Childhood Experience (ACE), linked to increased risk of depression, anxiety, and even suicide. But the damage isn’t inevitable.
As a divorce professional, you have the power to protect children—not just by resolving cases, but by guiding parents away from conflict and toward connection. We’ve created a free set of tools—including the Divorce Professionals Creed, warning signs of alienation, and mental health checklists—based on lived experience and clinical insight from a mother-son therapy team.
Use these tools to spot risk early, support parents with empathy, and help kids feel safe and seen. Because protecting children’s mental health starts with the professionals they’ll never meet.
A Mother-Son Duo Turning Pain Into Purpose
After surviving a decade of high-conflict divorce, alienation, and near tragedy, Kerry and Palmer—now both therapists—are on a mission to protect the mental health of children in the legal system. Their lived experience and clinical insight offer powerful tools for judges, attorneys, and mediators who want to do more than settle cases—they want to safeguard childhoods.
Kerry is a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist, Parent Educator, and Clinical Supervisor who specializes in helping parents navigate divorce while protecting the mental health of their tweens and teens. With decades of experience and hard-won personal insight, she empowers parents to lead with steadiness, empathy, and connection during their family’s most vulnerable moments. MSW, LMFT, AAMFT Fellow/Supervisor, EMDR trained.
Palmer is a Marriage and Family Therapist, Teen Success Coach, and public speaker who draws from both personal experience and clinical training to support adolescents and their families. A summa cum laude graduate of Northwestern’s MFT program, he is passionate about helping teen boys feel understood, empowered, and resilient—especially during the high-stakes years of adolescence.
Kerry and Palmer are dedicated to helping families and children through high conflict divorce, and have given presentations both nationally and internationally.
For Attorneys, Law Firms, and Mental Health organizations
Divorce is an ACE (Adverse Childhood Experience)
Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) are potentially traumatic events that occur in childhood. Toxic stress from ACEs can change brain development and affect how the body responds to stress. ACEs are linked to chronic health problems, mental illness, and substance misuse in adulthood. Understanding the prevalence of ACEs and the risks associated with ACEs in early childhood is critical for creating interventions that promote positive development for youth. Check out our ACE Risk Factors and Protective Factors for Divorce Professionals pdf.
Your Influence Matters
As a judge, attorney, or mediator, your decisions do more than resolve cases—they directly impact a child’s emotional safety. Learn how to use your influence wisely.
Stop Early Warning Signs
A child suddenly rejecting one parent? Speaking in adult-like terms about conflict? These are red flags. Use our parental alienation warning signs document to intervene early.
Prioritize Mental Health
Kids from high-conflict divorces are up to 3x more likely to consider suicide. Help parents notice red flags and create space for honest conversations. Check out presentation Kerry and Palmer did in Tomoyo, Japan about youth suicide statistics.
Tools for Divorce Professionals
Our “Care for the Kids” resources provide a comprehensive guide for divorcing parents, emphasizing the critical importance of protecting children’s mental health during and after divorce. Central to the material is the concept of Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs), which include parental separation, conflict, and emotional neglect. These experiences can have long-term negative impacts on brain development, mental health, and physical well-being.
The resources highlight specific risk factors—ranging from family instability to community-level issues like violence and poverty—that increase a child’s vulnerability to ACEs. Conversely, protective factors such as nurturing relationships, positive peer connections, and stable environments can mitigate these risks.
Whether you’ve attended one of our seminars on divorce, completed the Care for the Kids online course, or heard about us from a colleague – we’d like to share some informative documents we’ve put together. Use this form to receive pdf downloads of our Care for the Kids seminar.
Sign Up to Receive Our Care for the Kids Resources
Request to download the Divorcing Parents Creed, Alienation Checklist, ACEs Risk Sheet, and more. These handouts equip you to get started with parents, while saving you time. Learn how to use your influence wisely.
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