Welcome, Professionals.

We are building a SEA of ALLIES who are dedicated to protecting children and keeping them safe in the care of their protective parents.

Available Certifications

Coercive Control Professionals Training - with certification

2 Day Live Virtual Certification Training for Court Professionals

Are you a Court Professional or someone seeking to work as Guardian ad Litem, custody evaluator, or expert witness? Are you seeking enhanced knowledge and a coercive control certification? Enhance your knowledge to support victims-survivors of coercive control in this research based 2-day training.

Clinicians earn 12 CEU's for the 2-day training and may then be listed in the CCCI, Inc. website (Dr. C's website).

OR choose Self-Study with 6+ hours of training. There are no CEU's, however participants receive a Badge noting their completion of the training.

quote

People's lives will be changed by the information gained in the certification training. And truly, some lives could be saved by having this knowledge - both professionals (potentially) and their clients.

- K.O. Indiana

Additional Classes

3 Half Day Trainings Including a Writing Workshop for Completing Court Evaluations

We need expert witnesses in family courts to support victims and survivors of coercive control. Dr. Fontes is very experienced and certified in many states as an expert witness. She can guide you how best to serve your clients and the family court system.

Breaking Free Together Retreat

If you are female, you can’t afford not to read this book.

This could be you—or your daughter, sister, mother, child, or friend. These stories are five-alarm warnings from real women around the world. Just like you perhaps, they had no idea what happens in the gender biased family court underworld—until they were thrust into it during divorce or a custody fight. This book warns about what mothers are up against in these epic battles, the harms inflicted on children, red flags to look out for while dating, ways to protect yourself during marriage, and how to survive. Gift a copy to the women you care about.

Other Peer-Reviewed Articles

  • Agnes Tiwari (2017) Impact of Childhood Exposure to Intimate Partner Violence and Other Adversities. Journal of the Korean Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry. https://doi.org/10.5765/JKACAP.2017.28.3.156
  • Ayeb-Karlsson, S. (2024). ‘We Have Lost our Humanity’: Incomplete Citizens, Dangerous Experts, and ‘(Residential) Reunification Interventions’ that Entrap, Punish and Harm the So-Called ‘Alienated’ Child within England and Wales Family Court System. Journal of Social Welfare and Family Law 1-21. https://doi.org/10.1080/09649069.2024.2414625
  • Ayeb-Karlsson, S. (2025). ‘We Owe It to Them, Her Children’: Jade’s Law in an Era of So-Called ‘Parental Alienation’ – How Parental Responsibility and the Presumption of Parental Involvement Entrap Women and Children to Perpetrators of Domestic Abuse. Journal of Social Welfare and Family Law. https://doi.org/10.1080/09649069.2024.2414618
  • Ayeb-Karlsson, S., Fawcett, K., Dalgarno, E. & Cicchetti, A. (2023). Introducing the concept of 'Abuse-Induced Forced (Im)mobility.' Technical report, DOI: 10.13140/RG.2.2.32213.49129
  • Ayeb-Karlsson, S., Meier, J.S., Barnett, A., Mercer, J., Neilson, L.C., Pollack, D., Halperin-Kaddari, R., Corwin, D.L., Hester, M. Zaccour, S., Thiara, R., Weiner, M., Rathus, Z., Edleson, J.L., Page, N.,  et al. (2024). A collective international response to the claim that so-called ‘parental alienation’ is a well-studied ‘gender neutral’ empirical phenomenon which can easily be measured. Published online, UCL, NFVLC, and SFN. DOI: 10.13140/RG.2.2.20834.34246
  • Barnett, O. W. (2000). Why battered women do not leave, part 1: External inhibiting factors within society. Trauma, Violence, & Abuse, 1(4), 343–372.
  • Boland, S., & Brassard, M. R. (2011). Psychological maltreatment of children and youth. In J. E. B. Myers (Ed.), The APSAC handbook on child maltreatment (3rd ed., pp. 3–24). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
  • Brassard, M. R., & Donovan, K. L. (2006). Defining psychological maltreatment. In M. M. Feerick, J. F. Knutson, P. K. Trickett, & S. M. Flanzer (Eds.), Child abuse and neglect: Definitions, classifications, and a framework for research (pp. 3–27). Baltimore, MD: Paul H. Brookes.
  • Buel, S. (n.d.). 50 obstacles to leaving.
  • Casey Oliver, Peter Jaffe, Intimate partner violence-exposed children, Editor(s): Howard S. Friedman, Charlotte H. Markey, Encyclopedia of Mental Health (Third Edition), Academic Press, 2023, Pages 292-302, ISBN 9780323914987, https://doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-323-91497-0.00212-5.
  • Cattagni Kleiner, A., & Romain-Glassey, N. (2018). How the current management of intimate partner violence can endanger victimized mothers and their children. Violence Against Women, 24(2), 200–223.
  • Center for Judicial Excellence. (n.d.). U.S. divorce child murder data. Retrieved August 1, 2025, from https://centerforjudicialexcellence.org/cje-projects-initiatives/child-murder-data/
  • Child Abuse Review. (2010). Vol. 19: 5–20. Published online 14 October 2009 in Wiley InterScience.
  • Cinzia Guarnaccia, (2018) Does Childhood Psychological Abuse Contribute to Intimate Partner Violence Victimization? An Investigation Using Tthe Childhood Experience of Care and Abuse Interview.
  • Ciurria, M. (2018). The loss of autonomy in abused persons: Psychological, moral, and legal dimensions. Humanities, 7(2), 1–19.
  • Conolly, A. (2025). Political relational ethics: Examining women’s positionality in the UK family court through an autoethnographic case study. Culture and Organization, . https://doi.org/10.1080/14759551.2025.2574267.
  • Coulter, M. L., & Mercado-Crespo, M. C. (2015). Co-occurrence of intimate partner violence and child maltreatment: Service providers’ perceptions. Journal of Family Violence, 30(2), 255–262.
  • Dalgarno, E., Katz, E., Ayeb-Karlsson, S., Barnett, A., Motosi, P., & Verma, A. (2023). ‘Swim, swim and die at the beach’: family court and perpetrator induced trauma (CPIT) experiences of mothers in Brazil. Journal of Social Welfare and Family Law, 46(1), 11–38. https://doi.org/10.1080/09649069.2023.2285136
  • Dalgarno, E., Ayeb-Karlsson, S., Bramwell, D., Barnett, A., & Verma, A. (2024). Health-related experiences of family court and domestic abuse in England: A looming public health crisis. Journal of Family Trauma, Child Custody & Child Development, 21(3), 277–305. https://doi.org/10.1080/26904586.2024.2307609
  • Dalgarno, E., Katz, E., Ayeb-Karlsson, S., Barnett, A., Motosi, P., & Verma, A. (2023, December 14). ‘Swim, swim and die at the beach’: Family court and perpetrator induced trauma (CPIT) experiences of mothers in Brazil. Journal of Social Welfare and Family Law, 46(1), 11–38. https://doi.org/10.1080/09649069.2023.2285136
  • Davis, C. (2025). What happened to you? Conversations on trauma, resilience, and healing: By Oprah Winfrey and Bruce D. Perry, Flatiron Books, 2021. Australian Social Work, 1–2. https://doi.org/10.1080/0312407X.2025.2457190
  • Dixon, L., Hamilton-Giachritsis, C., Browne, K. D., & Ostapuik, E. (2007). The co-occurrence of child and intimate partner maltreatment in the family: Characteristics of the violent perpetrators. Journal of Family Violence, 22(7), 675–689.
  • Flood, M. (2012). Separated fathers and the ‘fathers’ rights’ movement. Journal of Family Studies, 18(2–3), 235–345.
  • Fontes, L. (2015). Invisible chains: Overcoming coercive control in your intimate relationship. New York, NY: Guilford Press.
  • Friedman, M. (2003). Autonomy, gender, politics. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
  • Gardner, R. A. (1992). True and false accusations of child sex abuse. Cresskill, NJ: Creative Therapeutics.
  • Gómez-Leal, R., Fernández-Berrocal, P., Gutiérrez-Cobo, M. J., et al. (2024). The Dark Tetrad: Analysis of profiles and relationship with the Big Five personality factors. Scientific Reports, 14, 4443. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-024-55074-w
  • Grey, R. (2023). “Catastrophic”: A qualitative exploration of survivors’ experiences of expert instruction in private law child arrangements proceedings. Journal of Social Welfare and Family Law, 45(4), 344–362.
  • Grip, K. (2012). The damage done: Children exposed to intimate partner violence and their mothers—Towards empirically based interventions in order to reduce negative health effects in children (Doctoral dissertation). University of Gothenburg. http://hdl.handle.net/2077/30153
  • Gutowski ER, Goodman LA. Coercive Control in the Courtroom: the Legal Abuse Scale (LAS). J Fam Violence. 2023;38(3):527-542. doi: 10.1007/s10896-022-00408-3. Epub 2022 May 19. PMID: 35611345; PMCID: PMC9119570. https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC9119570/
  • Hall, C. (2020). Analysis of intimate partner violence testing instruments.
  • Harsey, S., & Freyd, J. J. (2022). Defamation and DARVO [Editorial]. Journal of Trauma & Dissociation, 23(4), 481–489. https://doi.org/10.1080/15299732.2022.2111510
  • Hart, S. N., Brassard, M. R., Binggeli, N. J., & Davidson, H. A. (2002). Psychological maltreatment. In J. E. B. Myers, L. A. Berliner, J. N. Briere, C. T. Hendrix, T. A. Reid, & C. A. Jenny (Eds.), The APSAC handbook on child maltreatment (pp. 79–104). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
  • Herman, J. L. (2023). Truth and repair: How trauma survivors envision justice. New York, NY: Basic Books.
  • Hester, M., & Eriksson, M. (2006). The justice system as an arena for the protection of human rights for women and children experiencing violence and abuse. Academia.edu.
  • Jaffe, P. G., Bala, N., Medhekar, A., Scott, K. L., & Oliver, C. (2023, February). Making appropriate parenting arrangements in family violence cases, 2023 (summary and supplemental materials). Justice Canada.
  • Jaffe, P., Bala, N., Medhekar, A., Scott, K., & Oliver, C. (2025). Appropriate parenting arrangements in cases of intimate partner violence and coercive control: From research and legislative reform to changes in practice. Family Court Review, 63(3), 467–490. https://doi.org/10.1111/fcre.70002
  • Johnson, L., Chen, Y., Stylianou, A., & Arnold, A. (2022). Examining the impact of economic abuse on survivors of intimate partner violence: A scoping review. BMC Public Health, 22(1), 1014. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12889-022-13297-4
  • Journal of Family Violence. (2022). Coercive Control In The Courtroom: The Legal Abuse Scale (LAS). Journal of Family Violence, 38(3), 527–542. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10896-022-00408-3
  • Jigisha Sharma (2023) Effects of Domestic Violence on Women and Children. https://www.ijraset.com/best-journal/effects-of-domestic-violence-on-women-and-children.
  • Karin Grip.(2012) The Damage Done Children Exposed to Intimate Partner Violence and their Mothers-Towards empirically based interventions in order to reduce negative health effects in children.
  • Katz, E. (2022). Coercive control in children’s and mother’s lives. Oxford University Press.
  • Katz, E. (2023, October 23). Decoding coercive control with Dr. Emma Katz: From ‘Parental Alienation’ to (Abusers’) Child and Mother Sabotage.
  • Katz, E., Nikupeteri, A., & Laitinen, M. (2020). When coercive control continues to harm children: Post-separation fathering, stalking, and domestic violence. Child Abuse Review, 29(4), 310–324.
  • Lohmann, S., Cowlishaw, S., Ney, L., O’Donnell, M., & Felmingham, K. (2023). The trauma and mental health impacts of coercive control: A systematic review and meta-analysis. Trauma, Violence, & Abuse, 1–31.
  • Lux, G., Beltrano, N., & Archer-Kuhn, B. (2024). Prioritizing safety in family law: A stage-gating approach to domestic violence and parent-child contact problems. Journal of Family Trauma, Child Custody & Child Development, 1–29. https://doi.org/10.1080/26904586.2024.2431696
  • Matthewson, M. L., GAO, N., Njoku, C., Tarrant, A., Haines, J., & Tuerkheimer, E. (2023). A qualitative exploration of reunification post alienation. Frontiers in Psychology, 14, Article 1189840. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2023.1189840
  • Markus Kemmelmeier (2003) Childhood Exposure to Domestic Violence Predicts Relationship Violence: A Meta-Analysis. American Psychological Association (APA). https://www.academia.edu/108351301/Childhood_Exposure_to_Domestic_Violence_Predicts_Relationship_Violence_A_Meta_Analysis?email_work_card=title
  • Meier, J. S. (2020). U.S. child custody outcomes in cases involving parental alienation and abuse allegations: What do the data show? Journal of Social Welfare and Family Law, 42(1), 92–105.
  • Myhill, A., & Hohl, K. (2016). The “golden thread”: Coercive control and risk assessment for domestic violence. Journal of Interpersonal Violence, 34.
  • Nicholson, S. B., & Lutz, D. J. (2017). The importance of cognitive dissonance in understanding and treating victims of intimate partner violence. Journal of Aggression, Maltreatment & Trauma, 26(5), 475–492.
  • Nott, D., & Walker, B. R. (2021). The Dark Tetrad in the prediction of self-reported and behavioural risk-taking. Australian Journal of Psychology, 73(4), 569–577. https://doi.org/10.1080/00049530.2021.1955224
  • Orr, K., Sheeran, N., & Douglas, H. (2023). The psychological impact on mothers who have experienced domestic violence when navigating the family court system: A scoping review. Psychiatry, Psychology and Law, 1–12.
  • Patriarchy: Theoretical postulates and empirical findings. (2009). Sociological Bulletin, 58(2), 253–272.
  • Pedro Mateo Fernández V. (2022) Insecure attachment style and child maltreatment: relations to aggression in men convicted of intimate partner violence. Colegio Oficial de la Psicologia de Madrid. https://doi.org/10.5093/ANYES2022A24
  • Pingley, T. (2018). The impact of witnessing domestic violence on children: A systematic review. Children and Youth Services Review, 94, 12–20.
  • Price, L. (2014). Critical realist versus mainstream interdisciplinary. Journal of Critical Realism, 13(1), 52–76.
  • Rafaeli, E., Bernstein, D. P., & Young, J. (2011). Schema therapy: Distinctive features. New York, NY: Routledge.
  • Renner, L. M., & Slack, K. S. (2006). Intimate partner violence and child maltreatment: Understanding intra- and intergenerational connections. Child Abuse & Neglect, 30(6), 599–617.
  • Romero, A., & Staudenraus, M. (2023). Experiences of intimate partner violence victims: Continued abuses during and after litigation. Journal of Family Trauma, Child Custody & Child Development, 1–14.
  • Rosenthal, H. (2019). Scanning for justice: Using neuroscience to create a more inclusive legal system. Columbia Human Rights Law Review, 2019. https://ssrn.com/abstract=3413213
  • Sarkis, S. (2018). Gaslighting: Recognize manipulative and emotionally abusive people — and break free. New York, NY: Da Capo Lifelong Books.
  • Sharma, S. R., Gonda, X., Dome, P., & Tarazi, F. I. (2020). What’s love got to do with it: Role of oxytocin in trauma, attachment and resilience. Pharmacology & Therapeutics, 214, 107602.
  • Sharp-Jeffs, N., Kelly, L., & Klein, R. (2017). Long journeys toward freedom: The relationship between coercive control and space for action—Measurement and emerging evidence. Violence Against Women, 24(2), 163–185.
  • Sheed, A., Brandt, C., & McEwan, T. E. (2024). The relationship between stalking, homicide, and coercive control in an Australian population. Homicide Studies. https://doi.org/10.1177/10887679241268032
  • Silberg, J., & Dallam, S. (2018). Abusers gaining custody in family courts: A case series of overturned decisions. The Leadership Council on Child Abuse & Interpersonal Violence.
  • Smith, S., Perrin, M., & Sarver, S. (2022). A therapeutic response to the alienating child: Balancing rights and responsibilities in clinical interventions. Journal of Child Custody, 19(3–4), 229–246.
  • SpearmanK.J., Alhusen J.L., Ho G.W.K., Smith K.F., Campbell J.C. (2022) Addressing Intimate Partner Violence and Child Maltreatment: Challenges and Opportunities. In: Krugman R.D., Korbin J.E. (eds) Handbook of Child Maltreatment. Child Maltreatment (Contemporary Issues in Research and Policy), vol 14. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-82479-2_16
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  • Xyrakis, N., Aquilina, B., McNiece, E., Tran, T., Waddell, C., Suomi, A., & Pasalich, D. (2022). Interparental Coercive Control and Child and Family Outcomes: A Systematic Review. Trauma, Violence, & Abuse, 25(1), 22-40. https://doi.org/10.1177/15248380221139243 (Original work published 2024)