Conclusion

This chapter provides a brief historical context about how political controversies have limited professional writing about parent–child contact problems and describes the ways in which this volume provides a more nuanced and nonpartisan perspective on family-based interventions for these complex problems. The chapter first highlights the conceptual formulation of parent–child contact problems that underlies the treatment approach described throughout the book. It next suggests essential components of the Overcoming Barriers intervention model. This discussion is followed by comments on limitations of the empirical evidence available to inform policy and practice. Conundrums in clinical practice that involve risks of harming rather than helping families are then considered. Finally, the chapter explores how to practice ethically while awaiting more definitive direction from accumulated research on these matters.