Lesley Ann Friedland, ESQ

Join us for a special film screening of Split and Split Up The Teen Years... SPLIT is film created in collaboration with children ages 6–12, exploring the often frightening and always life-altering separation of their parents. Split gives us the children’s perspective on divorce — no adults, no experts — just kids speaking the powerful truth of what is on their minds and in their hearts. Their wisdom, candor, and humor offer courage to other children and encourage parents to make thoughtful, informed choices as they move through divorce. After viewing the first film we will watch SPLIT UP: The TEEN Years, which shows the perspective of these same children ten years later.   

THIS EVENT WILL HELP YOU:
•    Better understand the short and long-term effects of divorce on children 
•    Use this understanding to guide co-parents to make more skillful choices
•    Discover how to identify critical issues surrounding children’s needs when parents’ divorce
•    Learn practical strategies of using the SPLIT films and other resources in different practice settings 

We are also honored to share that Ellen Bruno will be joining us live and in person for this event, offering attendees a unique opportunity to engage directly with the filmmaker and deepen the conversation following the screening. 

 REGISTER HERE

Ellen Bruno is an award winning documentary filmmaker based in San Francisco. With a background in international relief work, Ellen’s films have focused on issues at the forefront of human rights. She began her relief efforts in remote Mayan villages in Tabasco, Mexico. She has worked in refugee camps on the Thai-Cambodian border with the International Rescue Committee, in Vietnamese boat camps with The Refugee Section of the American Embassy in Thailand, and as director of the Cambodian Women's Project for the American Friends Service Committee. She has also been a hospice worker for the Zen Hospice Project in San Francisco.

Ellen completed a masters degree in documentary film at Stanford University. She is a recipient of Guggenheim and Rockefeller Fellowships, a Goldie Award for Outstanding Artist, an Alpert Award for the Arts,an Anonymous Was A Woman Award for the Arts, a Shenkin Fellowship from Yale University School of Art, and was an Artist-in- Residence at the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts.

Ellen serves on the Board of the Buddhist Film Festival, the Pacific Pioneer Fund, and Ethical Traveler.Org. She is a strategic planning consultant with the Creative Capital Foundation’s Professional Development Workshops, working throughout the country to provide artists a cohesive structure to organize, plan and sustain creative careers.

Melissa Goodstein, Esq., is the immediate past President of the New York Association of Collaborative Professionals (NYACP). She currently serves on its Executive Board and has maintained a family and matrimonial private practice in the NYC metro area for over 32 years, focusing on the alternative dispute resolution models of mediation and collaborative divorce. Melissa co- chairs NYACP’s Training and Education Committee, facilitates the Northern Westchester NYACP Pod and co facilitates the Northern Westchester Support Group Collaborative Practice and Diversity Support Group. Melissa also serves on the roster of mediators for New York Courts' 9th Judicial District and the American Arbitration Association. She is a long- standing member of the New York State Council of Divorce Mediation, the Westchester Woman’s Bar Association, The Family and Divorce Mediation of Greater New York and the International Association of Collaborative Professionals. Melissa is a graduate of Brandeis University and Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law.  

Meg Sussman is a clinical psychologist who has been working with individuals, couples, and families for over 30 years. During that time she has specialized in helping divorcing couples transition to the next phase of their lives so that all family members can have the best possible outcome.

Dr. Sussman has been an active member of the New York Association of Collaborative Professionals from its inception and currently serves as Secretary of the Board.

As a collaborative professional, Dr. Sussman serves as a family specialist where she helps parents and children learn how to communicate more effectively, develop parenting plans and cope with the emotions they experience during this difficult time in their lives. This involves working with attorneys and financial professionals as part of a team. 

In addition to her psychotherapy and collaborative practice, Dr. Sussman serves as a parent coordinator to assist parents when there are decisions to be made and to work together in the best interests of their children. 

Lesley Ann Friedland is a family law attorney and mediator dedicated to public service. For more than two decades, Lesley served as a Court Attorney and Referee for the NYS Family Court presiding over custody, visitation and child protective matters in all five boroughs. While working in the Courts, Lesley helped facilitate the NYS Parent Education & Awareness Program and oversaw the Mediation Department in Kings County and she led the team that developed a program for children of divorce and separation. In March 2012, Lesley left the Family Court and with a group of like-minded attorneys, mental health experts, mediators and other seasoned professionals founded FamilyKind, a not-for-profit organization providing information and supportive services to families experiencing separation and divorce. Lesley currently is the Executive Director of FamilyKind and she also serves as a parenting coordinator. 

Agenda:

4:30-5:00PM Networking and light dinner

5:00-5:45PM Introduction and first Split Film

5:45-6:00PM Break and brief discussion

6:00-7:00PM Second Split Film

7:00-7:45PM Q and A with Ellen Bruno

Registration and Attendee Information:

Members and Non-Members: $75.00

Thank you to our Mental Health CEU Credit Sponsor!