Parenting Coordination
Support for co-parents navigating change.
Contact Dr. Heller
When Parents Need Help Getting on the Same Page
Separation and divorce reshape a family, but they don't end it. When children are involved, parents are asked to keep working together — making decisions, solving problems, and adjusting to new routines — often at the exact moment when trust and communication have broken down.
For some families, this happens smoothly. For others, disagreements over schedules, school choices, medical decisions, or day-to-day parenting styles turn into recurring conflict. Court can resolve a dispute, but it's slow, expensive, and adversarial — not built for the ongoing, detailed decisions that co-parenting requires. That's where parenting coordination comes in.
Parenting coordination is a child-focused process designed for high-conflict or communication-challenged co-parents who need a better way to work through disagreements — without returning to court every time an issue arises. It's available to parents who were married and are now divorced, to parents who were never married, and to any parenting configuration, whether two moms, two dads, or a mother and father. What matters isn't the shape of the family — it's the shared responsibility of raising a child across two households.
What a Parenting Coordinator Actually Does
A Parenting Coordinator (PC) is a neutral professional — often a licensed mental health clinician or attorney with specialized training — appointed to help separated or divorced parents implement their parenting plan and resolve the conflicts that come up along the way. The role blends elements of mediation, conflict resolution, and child development expertise, tailored to the ongoing needs of a specific family rather than a single dispute. A Parenting Coordinator typically:
Implements the Parenting Plan
Court orders can't anticipate everything — a PC helps translate the plan into practical decisions about holidays, extracurriculars, travel, and daily logistics.
Facilitates Communication
Offers structure and tools so that necessary conversations happen productively between parents, even when trust is low.
Resolves Disputes as They Arise
Often with authority, granted by the court or by agreement, to make binding or recommended decisions on specific, defined issues — reducing the need for repeated litigation.
Centers the Child's Well-Being
Keeps the child's well-being at the center of every recommendation, drawing on knowledge of child development and the impact of conflict on kids.
Educates Both Parents
On communication strategies, co-parenting best practices, and how their children experience the transition.
Documents the Process
Providing consistency and accountability over time, which can reduce the ambiguity that often fuels conflict.
A PC does not replace an attorney and does not decide legal custody or major legal rights. The role is narrower and more practical: keeping the parenting relationship functional enough that the children are shielded from unnecessary conflict.
What Parents Need During This Process
Every family that comes to parenting coordination brings a different history, but the underlying needs are often similar:
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Clarity. Parents need to know what's expected of them, what decisions fall within the PC's authority, and how the process works from start to finish.
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A neutral space. Many parents have tried to communicate directly and found it unproductive or painful. A PC offers a structured, impartial setting where both parents are heard.
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Consistency. Children thrive on predictability. Parenting coordination helps translate broad agreements into consistent routines both households can rely on.
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Reduced conflict exposure for children. One of the most consistent findings in child development research is that ongoing, unresolved parental conflict — not separation itself — is what harms children most. A PC's central job is to lower that exposure.
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A path forward that doesn't require going back to court. Litigation is costly in every sense — financially, emotionally, and in terms of the relationship parents will need to maintain for years. Parenting coordination offers a faster, more private, and less adversarial alternative.
How This Process Helps Families Move Forward
Parenting coordination isn't about determining who's "right." It's about building a working relationship that can hold up over years of shared parenting — through new schools, new partners, new stages of childhood, and the inevitable disagreements that come with raising kids across two homes.
For Parents Exhausted by Conflict
A PC offers relief: a professional who understands both the legal framework and the emotional terrain, and who can help translate frustration into workable solutions.
For Parents Staying Organized
For parents who are simply trying to stay organized and consistent, a PC offers structure and a sounding board.
Above all, parenting coordination exists for the children — to give them two parents who, even after separation or divorce, can make decisions together, communicate respectfully, and provide the stability every child deserves.
Talk Through Your Co-Parenting Situation
If you and your co-parent are navigating ongoing disagreements about parenting decisions, schedules, or communication, parenting coordination may help. Serving families in New York, Connecticut, and Florida.
Contact Dr. HellerBased in New York City. Licensed in New York, Florida, and Connecticut.