Risa Garon

Bio:

Risa Garon, psychotherapist, licensed clinical social worker and certified family life educator
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Risa Garon, LCSW-C, BCD, CFLE is executive director and co-founder of the National Family Resiliency Center, Inc. (NFRC) — a private, non-profit mental health center serving children and families of separation and divorce.

A psychotherapist, licensed clinical social worker and certified family life educator, Ms. Garon specializes in adolescent issues and working with adults of separated, divorced and blended families to craft child-focused parent plans. As well, she is a certified mediator — trained and certified in collaborative law — who serves as a divorce coach and child specialist.  

Recently, Ms. Garon led a team that developed NFRC's on-line parenting plan program, FamilyConnex® which is accessed by parents across the country. Ms. Garon created the Child and Family Focused Decision Making Model, used to train judges, lawyers, mediators and mental health professionals nationwide. The model is detailed in a book she co-authored, Guidelines for Child Focused Decision Making. Ms. Garon, along with NFRC staff, developed a national certification training program for professionals who want to implement the NFRC's Healing Hearts® divorce education program for parents and KidShare® educational programs for children. Ms. Garon designed an advanced training seminar for Best Interest Attorneys and co-authored the book: Attorneys Representing Children: Guidelines for Interviewing and Assessing Children and Parents Experiencing Separation and Divorce.

She has also contributed numerous articles to professional journals and major newspapers. Ms. Garon contributed two chapters in the American Bar Association's "Child and Youth Developmental Considerations," and "Parenting Considerations," A Judge's Guide: Making Child-Centered Decisions in Custody Cases. Ms. Garon is a faculty member of The National Council of Juvenile and Family Court Judges, which recently selected NFRC as an exemplary program to work with family courts and adjunct assistant professor with the University of Maryland School of Social Work. In 2001, the Association of Family Court and Community Professionals presented Ms. Garon with the Irwin Cantor Award for Innovative Programming.

My Blogs:
Does Your Child Need Counseling?
Got Pain? Six Keys to Partnership Parenting
Try Friends and Family Plan to Help Kids Adjust