Presenting your case to the professionals

A structured approach for parents of alienated children, with Nick Woodall

This workshop comes from a recording of a live online event.

About this course

Parents who are working to preserve or re-establish the natural relationship with their children will, in almost all cases, come into contact with a wide range of professionals, including child custody evaluators, social workers, lawyers, judges, psychologists and therapists. Each of these professionals will play a part in determining the outcome of the case. As a parent in the rejected position, how you respond to those professionals, and how you present your case can be a critical factor in whether you achieve your goal. 

This workshop examines the world of family separation professionals and the systems in which they work. It will also look, in detail, at the types of professional you might meet and how they fit into that wider system. In addition, it will focus on the importance of narrative and the art of story telling, offering practical insights and skills so that you can be concise, precise and persuasive. 

What you will learn: 

  • approaches to creating coherent narratives
  • ways to talk about your case that can be easily understood 
  • key skills for constructing court documents 
  • insights into professionals’ biases and how they operate 
  • ways to avoid the traps


This workshop is for all parents with children who are affected by alignment and rejecting behaviour, whether your child is present in your life or not.



Your tutor: 

Nick Woodall is a psychotherapist and holds a Masters degree in psychodynamic psychotherapy from the University of London. He is also a therapeutic mediator, accredited by the School of Psychotherapy & Counselling Psychology, Regents University, London. 

Nick has worked with families experiencing divorce or separation since 1999 and specialises in childhood relational trauma and the onset of disorganised attachment behaviours that can occur in the context of family separation and divorce. 

Nick has worked on family separation policy and service design for the UK Government and has been a guest lecturer at the Judicial College of England and Wales. He has authored and co-authored a number of commercially published books on the subject of children’s responses and changing needs in the context of divorce or family separation.