Authenticity and Weight when Including Children's Voices in Court Processes
- lbradford
- Mar 16
- 1 min read
AFCC Webinar
Lorri Yasenik, PhD & Jon Graham, LLB, BA
April 16, 2025
1:00pm-2:00pm EST
Registration Closes April 15, 2025, at 9:00am EST
This seminar focusses on the concepts of the weight and authenticity of the child’s voice in family law matters. Examine ways to authentically include children. It is argued that the child’s voice is only one piece of the evidentiary puzzle. Do family law practitioners avoid the inclusion of children because they pre-determine the weight of a child’s input? Let’s examine ways to include children and re-establish our confidence in the Judge’s role of balancing multiple factors in decision-making.Â
Lorri Yasenik, PhD, is the Director of Rocky Mountain Play Therapy Institute in Calgary, Alberta Canada and Co-director of the International Centre for Children and Family Law in Australia/Canada. Lorri is a Registered Supervisor of Child Psychotherapy and Play Therapy and delivers certified play therapy training programs internationally in the areas of child and play therapy and child inclusive practice. Lorri is the recent past president of AFCC AB Chapter and is a Registered PC and Family Mediator.
Jon Graham, LLB, BA, has worked as a Family Mediator, Mediation Trainer and Clinical Supervisor of practice for nearly 30 years. As part of that work Jon trained and presented to professionals across Australia, USA, Canada, Singapore, UK and Hong Kong. His main area of interest in Family Law work has been family safety, risk assessment and safety planning. Since 2014, Jon has worked with Lorri Yasenik in developing models of practice for the safe inclusion of the child voice in family law cases.