A court-approved co-parenting class is a structured high-conflict co-parenting education program that a California family court accepts as satisfying an order for co-parent education. The 6-Week High Conflict Co-Parenting Skills Intensive™ is on the court-approved provider list for the San Diego, Riverside, San Bernardino and Santa Clara Superior Courts, with applications in progress across additional counties nationwide. Every parent who completes it receives a dated certificate of completion to file with the court.
This is not a generic parenting class. It is built for the parent who is trying to step out of a high-conflict dynamic without stepping away from their kids. The work is pro-kid, not pro-mom and not pro-dad, and it is grounded in the 4-Move Change Model™: Regulate your nervous system, Disengage from the conflict (not from your children), Communicate using SAFE™ and BIFF® so every message is calm and court-ready, and build ROOTS™ with your kids, Regular Opportunities Of Togetherness for Stability, the strongest antidote to alienation. It is delivered live online, so a parent anywhere in California can complete a court-ordered class without travel.
Parents usually arrive reactive and exhausted, spending heavily on legal fees every time an exchange escalates or a holiday lands on the other parent's parenting time. The six weeks follow a consistent arc: regulate before responding, disengage from bait instead of reacting to it, and put every message in writing using our SAFE™ communications protocol and High Conflict Institute's BIFF®. What parents report afterward is just as consistent: shorter and calmer exchanges, less to fight about so legal spend drops, and a certificate of completion that judges respond well to. In one parent's words:
The class begins with the part that matters most, and the part that is easiest to lose sight of in the middle of a fight: what this is doing to your children. When kids are put in the middle, used as messengers, asked to pick a side, or left to absorb the hostility between their parents, they carry it. The research has been consistent for decades. It is not the divorce itself that does the lasting damage, it is ongoing conflict between the parents afterward. Children exposed to that over time are more likely to struggle with anxiety, with trust, and with managing their own emotions, and those effects can follow them well into adulthood. The single biggest factor in how your kids come through this is not whether you and the other parent separated. It is how much conflict they keep being exposed to now. That is the part you can control, and it is what this class trains you to do.
Co-parenting is the broad goal: two parents raising a child across two homes. Traditional co-parenting assumes the adults can communicate flexibly and cooperate. In a high-conflict situation that assumption breaks, and forcing it usually feeds the conflict and pulls the kids further into it. Parallel parenting is a structured form of co-parenting built for exactly that case. Each parent runs their own home, contact between the parents is limited, scheduled, and almost always in writing, and the children are kept entirely out of the adult conflict. It is not giving up on co-parenting. It is the version of co-parenting that actually protects children when the other parent will not lower the conflict. The class shows you how to tell which one your situation calls for, and how to set parallel parenting up so it holds.
Taught by Michelle Mitchell, J.D., a California-licensed attorney and litigator with more than 20 years of experience, Martha Beck Certified Wayfinder Coach, New Ways for Families® Certified Instructor, Certified High Conflict Diversion Program™ Coach trained by Brook Olsen, and trained in Somatic Experiencing®.
After being summoned to appear in court by my high-conflict co-parent, I engaged Michelle's team to compile OFW, email, and text messages and prepare a factual statement for the courts. This comprehensive document clearly demonstrated the pattern of high-conflict behavior which I was able to use to support my defense.
Michelle has helped me find the power, voice, and confidence to stand up for myself and for my child while recovering from years of legal battles. She takes pages-long emails and just gives me the facts, allowing me to stay away from the drama and focus on making sound decisions.
Michelle was recommended to me by my attorney as I'm facing a high-conflict divorce. As we have two beautiful girls, I signed up for the course as I needed to ensure I do my part to minimize unnecessary conflict. The course and your suggestions have been incredibly helpful, especially since I've never navigated a situation like this before.
Michelle was instrumental in helping me navigate a high-conflict divorce where the mother of my young children chose to have very little contact with the kids for almost nine months. I highly recommend you hire Michelle as your coach — I am very confident it will be one of the smartest decisions you will make.
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