Karen van Beyer, PhD, LCSW

The divorce rate for marriages has leveled off at about 50% during the last decade of the last century and the first decade of the 21st century. When we include unmarried couples who have had children and then separated, over 50% of children in the United States will go through the crisis of loosing an intact family. As parents go through this crisis, they worry about how to protect their children from being hurt. They are often at a loss as to what kind of parenting arrangement is best for the children. 

Divorce is a painful process in the best of circumstances. Legal, financial and social aspects of divorce must be considered. Parents want to put their children's interests first, but  divorce can still be emotionally devastating for the children.  In trying to do the right thing, parents can become mired in a legal process that is adversarial. Children frequently end up in the middle of conflict that is destructive to their emotional well being and to post divorce adjustment. 

This website is designed to assist parents in deciding how to best help their children through the divorce and to provide them with a two family system in which parents co-parent cooperatively. There are several alternatives available for parents before litigation should be considered. This website also serves as a guide to the services in child custody offered by Dr. van Beyer, and lists referrals. To contact Dr. van Beyer about a consultation or to schedule an appointment, visit her Contact page. Also, to find information on the Child Custody and Mediation Clinic, visit our Clinic Background page.

If efforts to resolve parenting issues are not successful, a custody evaluation may be ordered by the court or agreed upon by attorneys. In Louisiana there are no specific requirements for the training of child custody evaluators. Thus parents should be very careful to examine the credentials of a potential evaluator.