William Frankenstein
Monmouth County Collaborative Divorce and Mediation Professionals
Red Bank, New Jersey 07701
United States
Profession(s)
Mental Health Professional, PsychologistI have worked at the interface of family law and clinical psychology almost exclusively as my practice evolved over the past 25 years. Since so much of my professional involvements have been in adversarial cases, often as a forensic expert advising courts, lawyers and litigants, collaborative process is attractive to me as an alternative model for divorcing people to consider. The advantages are obvious -- more control, faster resolutions, les expense, and preservation of human dignity and parent partnerships forged in hard times. My skill set meshes extremely well with collaborative approaches, and I very much enjoy and embrace the work, finding that my background plays well with people going through this most profound of transitions. Divorce, difficult as it is, need not consume all of people's time, money and energy only to leave them polarized and angry, ineffective and regretful. I think it is critical for children's well being that parents understand that while they divorce one another, their parenting bond remains intact, as do their financial interests, quite often.
Professional Activities
I am the current co-chair of the Forensic Committee of the New Jersey Psychological Association, and will be seated on the New Jersey Council of Collaborative Professionals.Undergraduate Education
B.A. State University of New York at Stony Brook (1980)
Postgraduate Education
M.A. Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey (1983)
Ph.D. Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey (1985)
Comments
It is a shame when a collaborative path in divorce is a road not taken. I work as the divorce coach or as the mental health professional in collaborative, multidisciplinary team approaches to divorce. This involves helping parents with a collaborative mindset to settle on practical, sensible and child-centered parenting plans, consulting on the balance between the practical and logistical realities of life, balanced against the developmental needs and interests of children, prioritizing the meaningful and enduring attachments children want and need, ideally with two parents who can continue to rely on one another, parent to parent, even when the spousal dimension of their relationship is obsolete. In other aspects of my practice I work in adversarial cases as a custody and parenting time evaluator and expert. It is through exposure to these unavoidably high-conflict cases that the harsh realities of a'bad' divorce's effects on children becomes painfully tangible. Once divorcing spouses proceed down the adversarial path it becomes very difficult for them to find their way back to collaboration, partnership and respect. My goal in working collaboratively is to use my experience, study and orientation to common sense, practical solutions to assist collaboratively oriented parents in choosing the partnership path. I am always reminded that divorcing people once loved one another without reservation, and that they certainly still share a love for their children, and a stake in their children's development that no one else can match. By remembering what 'once was', and applying that sentiment to their parenting relations, a failed marriage can give way to a successful divorce.