New Ways for Families® — Counselor Certification
An advanced family therapy certification for licensed counselors and therapists working high-conflict cases through the New Ways for Families® method. Goes beyond licensure training to include 2 hours of competence observation and 11 monthly consultation groups — the depth and oversight family courts look for when adopting a structured parenting program.
Your instructor
Bill Eddy, LCSW, Esq.
Co-founder, High Conflict Institute
Upcoming live sessions
All dates U.S.-based · times in Pacific Time (PT)
- Open
September 8 & 10, 2026
3:00 PM – 7:00 PM PT · two live sessions
500,000+
professionals trained worldwide
Family courts need clinicians they can trust with the highest-conflict cases.
When a family court is choosing a structured parenting program for the cases that consume the docket — chronic conflict, alienation patterns, post-decree returns — they need clinicians with demonstrated competence, ongoing case oversight, and a court-recognized credential. The Counselor Certification builds that depth: you complete the full licensure training, are observed delivering the method, and participate in a year of monthly consultation groups with peers and HCI faculty. The result is an advanced credential that signals to courts, agencies, and referring attorneys that you can handle their hardest cases.
Outcomes you'll bring back from NWFF Counselor Certification.
- Deliver the full New Ways for Families clinical method to high-conflict co-parents and children.
- Teach the 4 Big Skills™ to parents to support BIG decisions about custody and parenting.
- Reduce parental conflict, contain it when it occurs, and address alienation dynamics.
- Recognize and respond to potential family violence patterns and refusal/resistance.
- Document your work in ways that support court decisions about custody and parenting time.
- Demonstrate competence through 2 hours of supervised observation by an HCI evaluator.
- Build ongoing case-consultation muscle through 11 monthly groups with peers and faculty.
- Earn an advanced credential family courts and agencies actively look for.
Who NWFF Counselor Certification is built for.
Licensed Therapists
LMFTs, LCSWs, LPCs, and psychologists who already work with high-conflict families.
Court-Appointed Clinicians
Custody evaluators, reunification therapists, and court-appointed clinical staff.
Court Program Administrators
For family courts implementing a structured parenting program for high-conflict cases.
Family Service Agency Staff
Agency clinicians delivering structured family programs to court-referred parents.
Family Law Professionals
Mental health professionals embedded in family law practice or case management.
HCI Provider List Members
Counselors seeking advanced credential recognition through HCI's Provider List.
How NWFF Counselor Certification is delivered.
The full 12-hour licensure training (4 hours self-directed + 8 hours live Zoom), 2 hours of competence observation by an HCI evaluator, and 11 monthly 1.5-hour consultation groups across the year — with peers and HCI faculty — to build deep, sustained mastery of the method.
- 4 hours self-directed training — Foundational online lessons covering the New Ways for Families clinical method.
- 8 hours live virtual training — Interactive Zoom training with Bill Eddy and your cohort, including role-play with real high-conflict scenarios.
- 2 hours competence observation — Supervised observation of your delivery of the method by an HCI evaluator.
- 11× monthly consultation groups — 1.5-hour monthly meetings concurrent with your year of practice — case consultation with peers and HCI faculty.
- Provider licensure — Full licensure to deliver the New Ways for Families clinical method.
- Provider Network membership — Recurring Q&A sessions with Bill Eddy and other Network providers.
- HCI Provider List listing — Public listing on the HCI website as a New Ways for Families Counselor-Certified clinician.
- Bonus trainings — Pre-Mediation Coaching (1 hour) and Decision Skills (1 hour) trainings included.
- Certificate of Completion — 12 hours documented for submission to licensing boards where applicable.
Methods taught in NWFF Counselor Certification.
4 Big Skills™
The core skills you'll teach parents and children: Flexible Thinking, Managed Emotions, Moderate Behaviors, Checking Yourself.
Individual Parent Sessions
Structured one-on-one parent work using a workbook-based clinical protocol.
Parent-Child Sessions
A clear clinical protocol for sessions with parent and child together.
Co-Parent Sessions
Structured sessions for co-parents working on decisions, communication, and protected children.
Bill Eddy, LCSW, Esq.
Co-founder and Chief Innovation Officer of the High Conflict Institute, developer of the New Ways for Families® method, and pioneer of the High-Conflict Personality theory. Bill is a licensed clinical social worker, attorney, and Senior Family Mediator at the National Conflict Resolution Center in San Diego with over 40 years of clinical experience working with high-conflict families.
He developed New Ways for Families as a structured clinical method that family courts could adopt as a pre-decision parenting program — now in use in jurisdictions across the U.S., Canada, and Australia. He has trained mental health professionals, mediators, attorneys, and family court staff in 35 states and 13 countries.
Bill is the author of more than 25 books, including New Ways for Families, Don't Alienate the Kids!, Splitting, and It's All Your Fault! He is a faculty member at the Straus Institute for Dispute Resolution at Pepperdine University and the University of Newcastle Law School in Australia.
NWFF Counselor Certification — frequently asked questions.
Who is this certification for?
Is this different from the Counselor Training Licensure?
What's the time commitment?
What are the prerequisites?
What is included?
Will I get CE credits?
Do you offer discounts?
Can our court program implement this for our clinicians?
Ready to enroll?
Enroll an individual seat now, or talk to us about a private cohort designed around your organization's actual cases.
