New Ways for Families® — Coaches Training Specialized divorce and co-parenting coach training for everyday challenges and high-conflict situations.
Expand your coaching practice with a structured, skills-based method developed by Bill Eddy and High Conflict Institute.
This 12-hour professional training prepares divorce coaches and other professionals to guide parents as they complete the online New Ways for Families®: Co-parenting Skills Class. Parents learn the 4 Big Skills™—Managed Emotions, Flexible Thinking, Moderate Behaviors, and Checking Yourself—while coaches help them practice and apply these skills to real-life co-parenting situations.
Originally developed for high-conflict separation and divorce, New Ways for Families® teaches essential skills that benefit all parents. The method complements existing divorce-coaching approaches and provides a practical way to help parents manage their own behavior, make constructive decisions, and reduce unnecessary conflict.
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
April 27 & 29, 2027
3:00 PM – 7:00 PM PT · two live sessions
- Open
October 12 & 14, 2027
9:00 AM – 1:00 PM PT · two live sessions
Divorce education provides information. New Ways for Families® teaches skills.
Parents going through separation and divorce often receive plenty of information about communication, parenting plans, children’s needs, and conflict resolution. Yet knowing what to do doesn’t always mean they can do it—especially when emotions run high, blame takes over, or conflict becomes entrenched.
New Ways for Families® was developed to address this challenge by teaching the 4 Big Skills™: Managed Emotions, Flexible Thinking, Moderate Behaviors, and Checking Yourself.
Rather than relying on parents to recognize their own behavior patterns or develop insight before making changes, the method focuses on learning and practicing specific skills.
The online class makes this education accessible and consistent, allowing parents to learn privately, at their own pace, and without the pressure of a group setting. Coaches then provide individualized 1:1 support, helping parents apply what they’ve learned to their own circumstances.
It’s a different approach to traditional divorce coaching: structured skills education combined with practical, personalized coaching.
How New Ways coaching works.
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Parents learn the skills
Parents work through the online New Ways for Families®: Co-parenting Skills Class, taught by Bill Eddy, at their own pace. Through structured lessons, practical examples, and exercises, they learn the 4 Big Skills™ and how to apply them to separation, divorce, and co-parenting challenges.
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Coaches reinforce the learning
As parents progress through the class, trained New Ways for Families® coaches meet with them individually over 3 or more sessions to review lessons, practice skills, and address the challenges they’re experiencing. Coaching focuses on what parents can control—their own choices, responses, and behaviors.
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Parents practice in everyday life
Parents apply the skills to real situations, including difficult communications, parenting decisions, emotional reactions, and interactions involving children or co-parents. They can continue practicing the skills whether or not the other parent participates.
This approach combines the accessibility of online education with individualized coaching, making it useful for everyday co-parenting challenges and more entrenched high-conflict situations.
A specialized method that enhances your existing coaching skills.
New Ways for Families® isn’t intended to replace comprehensive divorce coach training. It gives experienced and developing coaches a structured method they can add to their existing services.
Unlike coaching approaches that rely primarily on discussion, advice, or helping clients develop insight, New Ways focuses on teaching and reinforcing practical behaviors.
The online parent class provides consistent skills instruction, while the coach focuses on individualized application—helping parents practice what they’re learning rather than repeatedly discussing the conflict.
This is especially valuable when working with parents who are emotionally reactive, resistant to feedback, focused on blame, or struggling to make changes. But the same skills can help any parent navigate separation and co-parenting more constructively.
Outcomes you'll bring back from New Ways for Families® Coaches Training.
- Help parents manage high-conflict relationships with co-parents, children, and extended family.
- Coach co-parents in applying the 4 Big Skills™ to daily co-parenting situations.
- Recognize the dynamics and drivers of high-conflict behaviors.
- Apply structured, repeatable coaching protocols you can document for court if needed.
- Reduce parental alienation (post-separation parenting problems), estrangement, and harm to children during separation.
- Use EAR Statements™ and BIFF Response® to manage your own coaching interactions.
- Maintain coach well-being by letting go of feeling responsible for the outcome.
Who New Ways for Families® Coaches Training is built for.
Therapists
Therapists can provide coaching within their practice or as an additional service.
Divorce Coaches
For coaches working with one or both parents through the separation process.
Co-Parenting Educators
Educators delivering structured co-parenting programs.
Parenting Coordinators
Court-appointed PCs managing high-conflict custody situations.
Family Law Attorneys
Attorneys coaching clients on behavior and communication during litigation.
Mediators
Family mediators supporting clients between mediation sessions.
Court & Agency Program Staff
Family court staff and agency program coordinators.
The coaching manual for this method
The New Ways for Families® Online Coaching Manual is the manual for coaches delivering New Ways for Families® alongside the online parent class.
It is required for delivering the method and is purchased separately from the training, in digital or hard copy.
How New Ways for Families® Coaches Training works.
Complete the 4-hour on-demand course on your schedule, then join the 8-hour livestream (two 4-hour days) with Bill Eddy and your cohort — interactive role-play with high-conflict co-parenting scenarios and direct feedback from Bill.
Your training includes:
- 4 hours on-demand course — Self-paced online lessons covering the method, completed before the live session.
- 8 hours live virtual training — Interactive Zoom training with Bill Eddy over 2 days including role-play with real co-parenting scenarios.
- Provider Network membership — Recurring Q&A sessions with Bill Eddy and other Network providers.
- HCI Provider Directory listing — Public listing as a New Ways for Families® coach.
- New Ways for Families®: Co-parenting Skills Class access — Access to the online parent class for your clients.
- Bonus: Pre-Mediation Coaching — 1-hour Pre-Mediation Coaching Training included.
- Bonus: Decision Skills — 1-hour Decision Skills Training included.
- Certificate of Completion — 12 hours documented for submission to licensing boards where applicable.
- Email support included — Direct access to HCI for follow-up questions (1–2 business day response).
Methods taught in New Ways for Families® Coaches Training.
4 Big Skills™
The core skills you'll teach parents: Flexible Thinking, Managed Emotions, Moderate Behaviors, Checking Yourself.
EAR Statements™
Three-second verbal moves that calm an upset co-parent or client.
BIFF Response®
Coach parents to write co-parenting messages that don't escalate.
New Ways Process
Structured protocols for individual parent coaching, co-parent sessions, and parent-child sessions.
Bill Eddy, LCSW, Esq.
Co-founder and Director of Innovation of High Conflict Institute, Bill Eddy brings more than 40 years of experience in family law, divorce mediation, and mental health to his work with high-conflict families. A former California Certified Family Law Specialist, licensed clinical social worker, and former Senior Family Mediator at the National Conflict Resolution Center in San Diego, Bill has handled hundreds of family law cases and divorce mediations, giving him a rare understanding of the legal, emotional, and behavioral dynamics of separation and divorce.
Bill pioneered the High Conflict Personality Theory and developed the New Ways for Families® method, a structured, skills-based approach designed to help parents manage their own behavior and reduce conflict. Used in family courts and by professionals internationally, the method grew out of his extensive experience with families navigating difficult divorces. He has trained judges, attorneys, mediators, mental health professionals, and family court personnel in more than 35 U.S. states and 13 countries.
An award-winning family mediator and author of more than 25 books, Bill’s publications include New Ways for Families, BIFF for CoParent Communication, Calming Upset People with EAR, Don’t Alienate the Kids!, and Splitting: Protecting Yourself While Divorcing Someone with Borderline or Narcissistic Personality Disorder. He also co-hosts the It’s All Your Fault! podcast with Megan Hunter.
Trusted by professionals across industries.
I'm excited to share these skills with others. The New Ways for Families® Coach training really reinforced the structure and gave me the confidence to use it.
After having read (some of) Bill's books & articles and listening to the podcast, the training brought it all together. New Ways for Families® is my missing piece.
New Ways for Families® is truly a paradigm shift in my work with high-conflict families. I finally have some hope for helping parents who need skills to move forward.
New Ways for Families® Coaches Training — frequently asked questions.
Who is this course for?
What is the format?
When are the live sessions?
What is included?
Are there required materials?
Does this training offer continuing education credits?
Do you offer discounts?
What’s the difference between Coaches Training and Counselor Training?
About the New Ways for Families®: Co-parenting Skills Class (the online class your clients take)
How is New Ways for Families® different from other co-parenting classes?
Is this class only for parents involved in high-conflict divorce?
Do both parents need to take the class?
Can this class help parents avoid going back to court?
Can I work with a coach while taking the class?
Ready to bring New Ways for Families® into your coaching practice?
Gain a structured, skills-based method that complements your existing coaching approach and equips you to help parents put the 4 Big Skills™ into practice. Learn directly from Bill Eddy and become eligible for licensure as a New Ways for Families® Coach.
