Divorce and Custody Support.
Support for children, teens, and parents while the family changes shape.
Photo by Alvin Mahmudov on Unsplash
Divorce and custody disputes put a whole family under strain, and kids often feel it most. The legal process is built to settle who gets what and when. It isn’t built to help your child sleep at night, or to help you hold it together when you’re running on empty.
That’s the part we help with.
Big changes at home can show up as tears, anger, trouble at school, or a child who goes quiet. Some of that is a normal reaction to a hard season. Some of it needs more support. We’ll help you sort out which is which.
Kids caught between two parents can feel like they have to choose, carry messages, or keep secrets. Counseling gives them a safe place that belongs to them, where they don’t have to take care of anyone else’s feelings.
Handoffs, schedules, and decisions can turn into the same fights over and over. We help parents find a calmer, more predictable way to work together for their kids.
Parents going through divorce are often so focused on their kids that their own grief, stress, and anger get pushed aside. You matter here too.
When a relationship involved abuse, coercion, or fear, safety comes first. Some of our counselors specialize in trauma recovery, and we’ll go at a pace that feels safe for you and your children. Learn more about our trauma intensives.
Call us at (503) 837-3449 or request an appointment online. Our intake team will help you find a counselor who fits your family.
We see children as young as 3 and teens up to 18. Younger kids often work through play; older kids and teens usually talk it through. Parents stay involved, because a child's progress is tied to what happens at home. More about counseling for kids.
Structured, goal-focused sessions for parents who need to work together on handoffs, decisions, and lowering conflict. The goal is a workable partnership as parents, not getting back together. Offered by Nathan and Ben.
Divorce can bring grief, anxiety, depression, anger, and questions about who you are now. You deserve support too. More about counseling for individuals.
For couples still deciding whether to stay together, or for a new partner joining a family that already has a custody arrangement. More about counseling for couples.
Sessions with the family, or part of it, to rebuild communication and help everyone adjust to a new normal across two homes. More about counseling for families.
Our counselors follow Jesus and serve all people. If faith matters to you, it can be part of counseling. If it doesn't, it won't be. You decide, and you can change your mind.
Tap a photo or name to read that counselor's bio.
Licensed Professional Counselor
Areas of Experience: Anxiety, Depression, Relationship Concerns, Communication, Christian Counseling, Self-Esteem, Life Transitions, Trauma Recovery.
Counselor 2
Areas of Experience: Couple's, Family and adolescent and individual Counselor.
Counselor 3
Areas of Experience: Serving Adolescent and adults struggling with anxiety and depression.
Counselor 3
Areas of Experience: Helping children and families through counseling and educating parents and caregivers.
Counselor 3
Areas of Experience: Working with children, individuals and family.
We start with your child's everyday life, not the legal case. We don't need to know who filed or who is to blame to help your child cope with what they're living through.
We keep parents in the loop. We ask parents to meet with the counselor about once every four sessions, so you're never left wondering how things are going.
We go at your child's pace, not the court's. Healing doesn't run on a legal calendar, and we won't rush it.
We don't take sides. Both parents are treated as parents. Our focus is your child's well-being.
We are counselors, not evaluators. We don't do custody evaluations or parenting time evaluations, provide reunification therapy or parenting coordination, make custody recommendations, give expert testimony, write advocacy letters, or give opinions to the court.
If one of our counselors is subpoenaed, they testify only as a fact witness about what they observed and the treatment they provided. That boundary protects your child: the same person can't be both your family's counselor and a neutral evaluator.
It depends on your custody arrangement, and we will need to look at it before scheduling. If you share legal custody, we generally need consent from both legal custodians or a court order. If you have sole legal custody, we need documentation. Under Oregon law, a minor 14 or older can consent to their own outpatient mental health treatment, though we are still required to involve a parent or guardian before treatment ends in most circumstances. Bring us your custody judgment or parenting plan and we will tell you what is possible.
Not from us voluntarily. Your child's sessions are confidential, with the standard legal exceptions. We do not volunteer clinical information into custody proceedings. We can be compelled to release records by a valid court order or lawful subpoena, and we will tell you if that happens. If your goal is to generate evidence, therapy is the wrong tool and we are the wrong practice.
Often yes. We will ask whether there is an open case, whether any counseling is court-ordered, and whether we can review the order. Those questions are not gatekeeping. They exist so your child's treatment doesn't get disrupted three months in.
No. There is no relationship-repair goal. The focus is entirely on the logistics and communication of raising children in two households.
For a child adjusting to a new family structure, often three to six months. For a child in a high-conflict situation, longer, and the timeline depends heavily on what the adults do. We will give you a real estimate after a few sessions rather than a number now.
No. We are a treatment practice and we do not provide custody or parenting time evaluations, reunification therapy, parenting coordination, custody recommendations, or expert testimony.
No. Only if you want to. Our clinicians can work within a Christian framework or set it aside entirely, and you can change your mind at any point.
Our family and marriage counselors/therapists practice side by side supporting one another as needed to offer an extensive range of counseling awareness and fields of knowledge.
We want to be an appropriate resource to you on your journey. We want you to feel heard, respected, cared for and understood. So often times it seems that is all we need. We want you to know that we have the experience to deal with the very hardest obstacles in life. We are honored to serve!
Send us an email message or give us a call to connect. Get started by getting in touch with us and setting up an intro.
If you are new to Life Encounter, be sure to book a New Client Session by following the links.
Check out our full description of what we do, that is, what areas of study our counselors/thereapists focus on. We work together to support each other in providing the best awareness and approach to resolving lines toughest difficulties.
Ready to get started? Call (503) 837-3449 or use the button below to begin.
