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For Professionals

The family law professionals at DefuseDivorce.com are committed to providing empirically-driven, time- and cost-efficient programming that diminishes litigating parents’ anxiety and thereby improves the quality and efficiency of court-ordered family law services. We believe that advance orientation (AO) defuses anxiety, improves clear thinking, and improves the ecological validity of all of our evaluations and interventions. In support of this goal, we strive to make our work transparent.

 

We welcome your thoughts about the research, writing, and future directions that follow.

Research at DefuseDivorce.com

We are presently recruiting counties, jurisdictions, courts, and family-law-related professional organizations to participate in both qualitative and statistically-driven  research examining the value of advance orientation in family law. This effort is still in its infancy but is growing rapidly. It includes:

 

  1. Contrasting custody litigants’ experience of Parenting Plan Evaluation (PPE) based on prior participation in advance orientation (AO). We hypothesize consistent with many studies in other fields that custody litigants who participate in AO will be more satisfied with the PPE process and less likely to complain about the evaluator than those who do not.

  2. Contrasting evaluators’ experience conducting PPEs with litigants who have participated in AO versus those who have not. Consistent with research in other fields, we hypothesize that evaluators will describe the evaluation process as more time- and cost-efficient and as more effective with those who have completed AO.

  3. Summarizing the qualitative feedback of parents who complete AO programming at DefuseDivorce.com on topics other than PPE including creating a parenting plan, cooperating and communicating with co-parents, participating in parenting coordination, and participating in court-ordered psychological testing. We hypothesize that participating parents will find the minimal time and cost invested in programming improves their experience and their ability to advocate for their children.

 

Our work at DefuseDivorce.com is based on the impressive foundation laid by researchers who have reliably and repeatedly demonstrated the value of AO in fields including medicine, nursing, dentistry, public health, and  psychotherapy. We’re glad to link you to a small sample of this diverse and impressive collection of studies:

 

  1. Al-Namankany, A., Petrie, A, & Ashley, P. (2014). Video modelling and reducing anxiety related to dental injections - a randomised clinical trial. British Dental Journal, 216(12), 675-9. doi: 10.1038/sj.bdj.2014.497. PMID: 24970519.

  2. Ali, Z.S., Flanders, T.M., Ozturk, A.K., Malhotra, N.R., Leszinsky, L., McShane, B.J., Gardiner, D., Rupich, K., Chen, H.I., Schuster, J., Marcotte, P.J., Kallan, M.J., Grady, M.S., Fleisher, L.A. & Welch, W.C.  (2019). Enhanced recovery after elective spinal and peripheral nerve surgery: pilot study from a single institution. Journal of  Neurosurgery: Spine, 25:1-9. doi: 10.3171/2018.9.SPINE18681. Epub ahead of print. PMID: 30684933.

  3. Cakmak, M.,  Kose, I.,  Zinzircioglu, C., Karaman, Y., Tuncel Tekgul, Z.,  Pektas, S., Balik, Y.,  Gonullu, M.,  & Sutas Bozkurt, P. (2018). Effect of video-based education on anxiety and satisfaction of patients undergoing spinal anesthesia, Brazilian Journal of Anesthesiology (English Edition), 68(3), 274-279. 0104-0014, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bjane.2018.01.004.

  4. Darville-Beneby R,, Lomanowska, A.M,, Yu, H.C., Jobin, P., Rosenbloom, B.N., Gabriel, G., Daudt, H., Negraeff, M., Di Renna, T., Hudspith, M., & Clarke, H. (2023). The impact of preoperative patient education on postoperative pain, opioid use, and psychological outcomes: A narrative review. Canadian Journal of Pain. ;7(2):2266751. doi: 10.1080/24740527.2023.2266751. PMID: 38126044; PMCID: PMC10732618.

  5. Gagliano M.. (1988). A literature review on the efficacy of video in patient education. Journal of Medical Education, 63(10):785-92. doi: 10.1097/00001888-198810000-00006. PMID: 3050102.

  6. Krouse, H..J. (2001). Video modelling to educate patients. Journal of Advanced Nursing, 33(6):748-57. doi: 10.1046/j.1365-2648.2001.01716.x. PMID: 11298212.

  7. Lambert, R.G. & Lambert, M.J. (1984). The effects of role preparation for psychotherapy on immigrant clients seeking mental health services in Hawaii. Journal of Community Psychology, 12(3), 263-275. https://doi.org/10.1002/1520-6629(198407)12:3<263::AID-JCOP2290120310>3.0.CO;2-J

  8. Lau, W.C., Choi, K.S. & Chung, W.Y.  (2010). A virtual psychiatric ward for orientating patients admitted for the first time. Cyberpsychology, Behavior, and Social Networking. 13(6), 637-48. doi: 10.1089/cyber.2009.0107. Epub 2010 May 3. PMID: 21142988.

  9. Liu, R., Zhu, R., Becerik-Gerber, B., Lucas, G. M., & Southers, E. G. (2023). Be prepared: How training and emergency type affect evacuation behaviour. Journal of Computer Assisted Learning, 39(5), 1493–1509. https://doi.org/10.1111/jcal.12812

  10. Maghalian, M., Mohammad-Alizadeh-Charandabi, S., Ranjbar, M. et al. (2024). Informational video on preoperative anxiety and postoperative satisfaction prior to elective cesarean delivery: a systematic review and meta-analysis. BMC Psychology, 12(6). https://doi.org/10.1186/s40359-023-01499-3.

  11. Melamed, B.G., Weinstein, D. Katin-Borland, M. &, Hawes, R.  (1975). Reduction of fear-related dental management problems with use of filmed modeling. Journal of the American Dental Association, 90(4):822-826.,

  12. Nakamura, M., Tsuru, I., Izumi, T., Ono, A., et al., (2023). Advantages of enhanced recovery after surgery program in robot-assisted radical cystectomy. Scientific Reports, 27;13(1):16237. doi: 10.1038/s41598-023-43489-w. PMID: 37758782; PMCID: PMC10533885.

  13. Orne, M. T., & Wender, P. H. (1968). Anticipatory socialization for psychotherapy: Method and rationale. The American Journal of Psychiatry,124(9),1202–1212  https://doi.org/10.1176/ajp.124.9.1202.

  14. Swift, J.K.Penix E.A., & Li, A. (2023). A meta-analysis of the effects of role induction in psychotherapy. Psychotherapy (Chic) 60(3):342-354. doi: 10.1037/pst0000475. Epub 2023 Mar 13. PMID: 36913268.

  15. Zeev, N., Kain, A.A., Caldwell-Andrews, L.C., Mayes, M.E. Weinberg, M.E.,.Wang, S.M., MacLaren, J.E., & Blount, R.L., (2007), Family-centered preparation for surgery improves perioperative outcomes in Children: A randomized controlled trial. Anesthesiology ,106(1): 65–74.

Publications from DefuseDivorce.com

DefuseDivorce.com is committed to contributing to the professional literature and to other professionals’ understanding of the value of advance orientation in family law.

Article written by invitation for the AFCC Online Newsletter

Dr. Garber has conducted and will continue to conduct in-person and online training for lawyers, judges, mediator, parenting coordinators, and mental health professionals interested in integrating the benefits of advance orientation into local family law communities.
These include:
 

  1. Garber, B.D. (2024). Advance Orientation (AO) Improves Efficacy, Efficiency, and Participant Satisfaction: Preparing Parents for Parenting Plan Evaluations. Steve Frankel Group recorded asynchronous webinar.
     

  2. Garber, B.D., Mulchay, C., Locat, F. and carrier, S. (11.14.2024). Advance Orientation (AO) improves efficacy, efficiency, ecological validity,  and consumer satisfaction: Preparing Parents to Participate in Parenting Plan Evaluation (PPE). Pre-conference institute, Association of Family and Conciliation Courts. Columbus, Ohio.

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