026: Science-Based Solutions For Co-Parenting Through Divorce with Dr. Karey O'Hara

Science offers us some intriguing perspectives on divorce’s impact on children. Today’s guest is using science to better understand and support parents and kids through the complexities of the experiences of loss.

 

On this episode of Children First Family Law, Krista welcomes Dr. Karey O’Hara, a psychologist and assistant research professor at Arizona State University with a focus on navigating the intersection between family law and psychology. Dr. O’Hara’s work mainly focuses on how parents and children cope and adapt when exposed to significant disruptions like death and divorce. She is studying the science of how to evaluate and gauge this impact and provide solutions that can be put into practice. Dr. O’Hara’s research is always paired with active collaboration with courts or other community programs to ensure her research is tested and disseminated to real people to create real change for parents and kids. She has much to teach us in the area of risk and resilience factors associated with children’s coping and adjustment following divorce, informing family court policy, and improving interventions to promote the well-being of court-involved families.

 

During Krista’s conversation with Dr. O’Hara, you’ll hear about parents’ powerful influence on their children, why it is critical to validate emotions during a divorce process, and the impact high-quality parenting – including love – can have on children’s outcomes. Dr. O’Hara shares the three components of high-quality parenting, what science can teach us about interventions in the real world to help children fare better in divorce, and her research program that provides insight into understanding behavior and emotion under stress. She outlines her work in programs for parents and kids, including Project Brain Team, which promotes mental health and coping strategies and skills in divorce. Finally, Krista and Dr. O’Hara discuss lessons from science about the human and emotional experience of divorce and co-parenting dynamics and their influence on children. They share why there is hope for kids even after divorce and that those outcomes are in the hands of their parents.

 

Divorce is often complicated and messy, and handling those emotions can be difficult for everyone involved. However, Dr. O’Hara’s research reinforces that finding solutions that work for everyone is possible and offers some tips for reducing the tension.

 

In this episode, you will hear:

 

• Dr. Karey O’Hara’s path to her work in family law and clinical psychology focused on children and families
• The powerful influence parents have on their children
• The risk of labels like “parental alienation” and their limited helpfulness for parents and children
• Validating someone’s emotions, which can bring down the emotional temperature
• Protective factors of parents in helping themselves and their children deal with stress
• The impact of high-quality parenting (including love) on children’s outcomes
• How high-quality parenting includes love, appropriate limits, and discipline
• Risk factors for children and parents under stress
• What science can teach us about interventions in the real world to help children fare better in divorce
• Dr. O’Hara’s research program insights into understanding behavior and emotion under stress and then translating that science into ways to deliver real solutions to actual people
• Her work in programs for parents and kids, including Project Brain Team, promoting  mental health and coping strategies and skills in divorce
• Lessons