At the recent National Family Law Program we had the opportunity to hear Bill Eddy speak about the Future of Family Court.  Bill is a lawyer/mediator/social worker from San Diego who practices and writes in the field of conflict resolution.

His presentation focused on his experience and observation that the majority of families appearing in family court with high-conflict disputes include one or both parents with a mental health problem presenting as a legal problem.  In his book “The Future of Family Court: Structure, Skills and Less Stress”, he notes that most of these mental health problems include the following characteristics:

1. The person is not aware that he or she has a mental health problem

2. The person does not change their dysfunctional behavior, despite feedback,

3. The person “externalizes” responsibility for their problems and feels helpless.

He indicates that these three characteristics are common for people with personality disorders, but – of course- not all people with personality disorders become high conflict people.

While this particular book is directed more toward professionals working with people in high conflict, Bill has a number of other books geared toward individuals engaged in a legal dispute with a high conflict person, including, “It’s All Your Fault! 12 Tips for Managing People Who Blame Others for Everything” and “Splitting: Protecting Yourself while Divorcing someone with a Borderline or Narcissistic Personality Disorder”.  All of Bill’s books are available from his website at the High Conflict Institute and his book “High Conflict People in Legal Disputes” is now available in our Resource Centre.