Counseling, Education and Supervision Services
- Therapeutic Intervention
- Safehaven or Safe-harbor Therapy
- Coparenting Counseling
- Therapeutic Supervision
- Parent or Child Counseling
- Blended Family Counseling
- COBI (Court Ordered Behavioral Interventionist)
In these roles Dr. Mellen also provides services under Court appointment but these services are distinct from court-appointed evaluation services as they are therapeutic and not evaluation services. Because Dr. Mellen is appointed to provide these services, the level of confidentiality is different than when a parent seeks clinical services in the form of family, child, parenting, coparenting or blended family counseling when there are family challenges associated with separation and divorce. When individual or family and parenting counseling is provided through a Court appointment, Dr. Mellen regularly provides updated information to the Court regarding progress in treatment and recommendations that would assist the family. This is done either during regular Court hearings or status updates or by submitting a written report to the judge.
Just as when family counseling is in place to deal with challenging family matters that do not involve a court system it is important that with court involved treatment that all adult family members support the process and understand the goals of therapy. Change in family systems or change for an individual who is impacted by family disruption often requires, at times, opportunities to include other family members in individual meetings or regularly involve family members to resolve specific issues.
The exception that needs to be understood involves Safehaven or Safeharbor therapies. This counseling is sometimes ordered by the court when it is determined that a child whose parents are involved in a custody matter, could benefit from his or her own therapist. However, because the family is involved with the court system, it is essential in these cases to obtain regular updated information as to the child’s adjustment from collateral sources including the parents, educators and possibly other health related professionals. Sometimes in these cases it is also helpful to include a parent in a session if there is agreement by the child and the focus involves resolving an issue that is problematic for the child and interfering with moving forward with the Safe Haven Therapy process.
Dr. Mellen closely adheres to both American Psychological Association (APA) guidelines for child custody evaluations and the Association of Family and Conciliation Court guidelines (AFCC) when performing her duties whether they be therapeutic, an evaluation, interview, supervision or a dispute settlement.
