High Conflict Divorce

Powerful Strategies to Decrease the Chaos and Confusion with Olivia Long, JD, from O.Long Law, LLC.

Divorce mediator Colleen Honquest hosts a podcast called DivorceMD.

On August 11, 2020, Olivia joined Colleen Honquist and Debbie Evans on the Divorce MD podcast to discuss strategies to decrease chaos and defuse tension in high-conflict divorce and post-decree situations.

Many of Olivia’s clients come to her because they are frustrated from dealing with a divorce from, or attempts to co-parent with, an individual with a high-conflict personality. These individuals often lack empathy, accuse others of doing things they actually do, and generally seem to thrive on chaos and conflict. During this episode, Olivia, Colleen, and Debbie discussed strategies to diffuse the situation by not taking the bait:

• Set healthy boundaries;
• Learn to be proactive not reactive;
• Don’t respond too quickly or in anger;
• Is a response truly even needed?; and
• Remember BIFF communications (Brief, Informative, Friendly, Firm).

Throughout the episode they also discuss ways to use mediation and divorce coaches along with your attorney to achieve a better outcome, and what to do when a Guardian ad Litem (GAL) is appointed.

Anyone who is struggling to get through a contentious divorce, or finding ongoing negative interactions with their co-parent dragging them down will want to listen to this episode for these and many other great tips.