Family Ties
Therapeutic Assessments
Expert therapeutic insight to resolve high-conflict family disputes
Navigating complex custody and contact battles requires more than a static snapshot — that’s why our therapeutic assessments directly evaluate relationship dynamics, root causes, and increase a family’s capacity to change.
When separated parents cannot resolve disputes about their children, children become caught between competing loyalties, relationships with one or both parents deteriorate, and the family court process itself can entrench conflict rather than resolve it. These cases need more than a standard psychological assessment — one that can assess what is happening, why, and whether change is possible.
Dr Bailie offers a specialist Family Ties Therapeutic Assessment service for families in high-conflict contact and residence disputes, integrating attachment theory, mentalization-based practice and systemic family therapy within a structured, court-directed framework.
What is a Family Ties Therapeutic Assessment?
A therapeutic assessment goes beyond describing a problem and making recommendations. It directly tests whether parents and children can make the changes needed to protect the child’s welfare — giving the court a dynamic picture, not a single snapshot.
Our approach is distinctive:
- It assesses the whole family system — not just each parent and child individually, but the relationship between the parents and the wider network sustaining the conflict.
- It looks at how children become drawn into parental conflict — through exposure to disputes, denigration of the other parent, or an increasingly one-sided relationship with one parent — replacing simplistic labels with a more accurate, evidence-based formulation.
- It directly tests capacity to change — parents receive feedback during the assessment itself, and are supported to begin a process of change.
- It focuses on mentalizing — each parent’s capacity to think about their child’s feelings, fears and conflicts of loyalty, rather than seeing the child’s behaviour only through the lens of the parental dispute.
- It prioritises the child’s welfare throughout — the aim is the best possible relationship with both parents, given the specific circumstances.
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Our therapeutic assessments help parents to understand why they are stuck, and then work towards improving the wellbeing of their family.
Dr Richard Bailie
Why this matters for your clients
High-conflict proceedings often mean prolonged litigation, repeated hearings, and professional involvement that doesn’t resolve the underlying dynamics. A Family Ties Therapeutic Assessment provides:
- A clear, evidence-based formulation of the family dynamics and the child’s position within them
- A direct assessment of each parent’s capacity to change, not just a description of their difficulties
- Robust, detailed reporting that supports the court’s decision-making
- Where appropriate, a paced, clinically supported pathway to re-establishing contact between a child and a distanced parent
About Dr Bailie
Dr Richard Bailie is a clinical psychologist with almost 20 years’ experience working with the family courts. He delivers the Family Ties approach, developed by Eia Asen and Emma Morris, integrating attachment, mentalization-based and systemic frameworks in his assessment and therapeutic work with high-conflict families.
What to expect
- An initial meeting with parents, legal representatives and involved professionals, to agree the scope of the assessment
- Individual psychological assessment of each parent
- Individual assessment of each child, using age-appropriate methods
- Structured sessions with the parental couple, testing capacity for change
- Where appropriate, a paced, clinically supported reintroduction of contact with a distanced parent
- A comprehensive report addressing the court’s questions
Ready to instruct a Family Ties Therapeutic Assessment?
Get in touch to discuss your case, our current availability, and how a therapeutic assessment can give the court a dynamic picture of your client’s family.
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