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Bridge

Our 
Story

AFCC is unique as a professional association as its members do not all share a common profession. AFCC members are members of the judiciary, lawyers, mediators, psychologists, researchers, academics, counselors, Court Commissioners, custody evaluators, psychiatrists, parenting coordinators, Court Administrators, social workers, parent educators, financial professionals, and students.

The Association of Family and Conciliation Courts ("AFCC") is an international network of professionals assisting in the family law arena. AFCC has several chapters in the United States of America, Australia and Canada. AFCC members share a strong commitment to education, innovation and collaboration in order to benefit communities, empower families and promote a healthy future of children. There are presently 23 chapters of the AFCC. Alberta officially gained its chapter status in 2015. The Alberta Chapter of the AFCC gained incorporation status under the Societies Act of the Government of Alberta, and is a registered charity under the Canada Income Tax Act. The AFCC Alberta Chapter acts as a non-profit organization. 

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Alberta AFCC provides its members with a variety of benefits; conferences, webinars and training in relevant areas such as Parenting Coordination, Arbitration, reviewing Alberta Court of King's Bench Family Practice Notes 7 and 8 ("PN7 and PN8 interventions"), lunch and learns, and dinner meetings in both Calgary and Edmonton. Along with funds from the parenting organization, Alberta AFCC has provided scholarships to AFCC and Alberta AFCC conferences, and awards a free membership, on merit, once each year. A self-identified list of Parenting Experts conducting interventions or assessments under the Alberta Court of Queen’s Bench Family Law Practice Notes 7 and 8 was created for the benefit of Albertans (the "Referral List"). The Referral List is one of the only resources recognized by the Court of Queen's Bench as providing a roster of psychologists and social workers who conduct various PN7 interventions in Alberta. 

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Members of the AFCC Alberta Chapter are committed to bettering family reconciliation in the beautiful province of Alberta.

Family reading
Mission Vision Values

Mission

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AFCC is an interdisciplinary, international association of professionals dedicated to improving the lives of children and families through the resolution of family conflict.
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AFCC promotes a collaborative approach to serving the needs of children among those who work in and with family law systems, encouraging education, research and innovation and identifying best practices.

Vision

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A justice system in which all professionals work collaboratively through education, support, and access to services to achieve the best possible outcome for children and families.

Values

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Collaboration and respect among professions and disciplines.
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Learning through inquiry, discussion and debate.
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Innovation in addressing the needs of families and children in conflict.
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Diversity in family structures
and cultures.
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Empowering families to resolve conflict and make decisions about their future.
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Board of Directors

BOARD OF DIRECTORS

President

President

Traci Bannister

Lawyer

Traci Bannister practiced as a Family Law Lawyer and Mediator in South Africa for 20 years before moving with her family to Calgary, Alberta in 2012. She has requalified as a Barrister/Solicitor in Alberta and was called to the bar in June 2015.
Treasurer

Treasurer

Jonathan Tieman

Lawyer

Jonathan Tieman is a lawyer, mediator and collaborative lawyer who practices law in Brooks and Medicine Hat, Alberta. Jonathan has appeared at all levels of court in Alberta, and has expansive experience in resolving disputes (through alternative dispute resolution and the courts). Jonathan is a part-time instructor at Medicine Hat College (since 2008) teaching business law.
Past President

Past President

Judith Lake

Mediator

Judith Lake is a Chartered Mediator with over 20 years experience mediating in the areas of workplace, separation and divorce, civil claims and restorative justice. Judith teaches ADR for the University of Alberta’s Faculty of Business and she co-authored and instructs ADRIA’s Separation & Divorce Mediation program. She was a family mediator with Alberta Justice Resolution Services for nine years before returning to private practice and now mediates for their Family Mediation and Civil Claims programs.
Board Member

Board Member

Dr. Beth Archer-Kuhn

Social Worker

Beth brings with her twenty-five years of practice experience, starting in child welfare. Beth was employed in children’s mental health for over 20 years as a clinical social worker, clinical director of services, and executive director. For 15 years, Beth completed child custody and access evaluations for the family court in Ontario. Beth’s research experience and interests include the overlap of child custody decision-making and domestic violence, specifically in relation to shared parenting. The implications of this work invite partnerships in the fields of social work, child welfare, children’s mental health, domestic violence shelters and law. As a Teaching Scholar and Professor at the University of Calgary, Beth’s second area of research is social work education with a specific interest in inquiry-based learning, on campus, on-line and study abroad. She teaches across programs, clinical, ICD, leadership, and across levels of programs, BSW, MSW, and PhD.
Board Member

Board Member

Dr. Terry Singh

Ph.D., R. Psychologist

Dr. Terry Singh is a Registered Psychologist. He holds a Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology with post-graduate specialization in Child and Family Forensics, and has had more than a decade of clinical experience in Canada and the USA. He has served as a Professor at the university level, is an internationally-recognized researcher, and has been the recipient of several national and provincial awards over the course of his career. At this time, Dr. Singh’s primary work involves assisting Court-involved individuals, couples, and families of divorce and separation during and after the transition via evaluation (Practice Note 7 and Practice Note 8), treatment, mediation, parenting coordination, and arbitration. He has been qualified as an expert witness and provided testimony in both the Provincial Court and the Court of Queen’s Bench of Alberta. His areas of special interest include child custody evaluation, consideration of cultural factors in assessment and treatment, and the treatment of severe and persistent psychopathology.
Board Member

Board Member

Jane Gillespie

RSCW

Jane Gillespie is a Registered Clinical Social Worker with two decades of experience and have devoted my career to assisting at-risk families. Ms. Gillespie has a Clinical Master of Social Work (MSW) in children's mental health and specialize in assessment and intervention with children impacted by family violence, involved in family law matters, or caught up in high-conflict parenting disputes. Ms. Gillespie's training includes family mediation and the creation of developmentally sensitive parenting plans, play therapy and developmental screening of children of all ages. Ms. Gillespie has worked alongside family law professionals throughout her career, across multiple organizational landscapes and have extensive experience as a witness in family court. In 2020, Ms. Gillespie co-created a Therapeutic Access program used exclusively with separated and divorced families, in high-conflict parenting disputes or where there is a history of family violence. Ms. Gillespie has presented on the topic of Therapeutic Access locally and internationally. Ms. Gillespie hasworked extensively in the area of family violence including as a member of a specialized team established to create a family violence screening program for Alberta Children's Services, in collaboration with Homefront and the Calgary Police Service Domestic Conflict Unit. Ms. Gillespie is a certified SAFE home study writer and supervisor and a registered facilitator of the Circle of Security Parenting Program. Ms. Gillespie is a member of the Alberta College of Social Workers (ACSW), the Association of Family and Conciliation Courts (AFCC), the Alberta Family Mediation Society (AFMS) and Circle of Security Parenting International. Areas of practice include Counselling for Children and Adolescents, Practice Note 7 Interventions including Views of the Child, Child Consultant, Child Development Consultations, Therapeutic Access/Reunification Family Therapy, Parent Child Relationship Therapy, and Parent/Child Contact Problems
Board Member

Board Member

Honourable Justice Ola Malik

Alberta Court of King's Bench Justice

Justice Malik entered private practice after being called to the Alberta Bar in 2002. Justice Malik was a lawyer in the Legal Services department at the City of Calgary, where he has practised in the areas of prosecutions, regulatory law, and Charter litigation. Justice Malik is deeply involved in professional organizations, and in 2019-20, he served as the President of the Canadian Bar Association for Alberta. Justice Malik is deeply committed to understanding the challenges that many of our most vulnerable and marginalized communities face and to improving the administration of justice so these communities can be better served.
Vice President

Vice President

Brandi Smith

R. Psychologist

Brandi Smith has been working as a Registered Psychologist in Alberta for 11 years and working with children and youth since 2001. She has a Masters degree in Counselling Psychology. Brandi began working with children and youth as a crisis intervention worker, youth worker, and family support worker in the Child and Family Services system while she completed her clinical education and registration process. Once registered, Brandi continued to make child and youth her primary clinical focus and worked both in the Child and Family Services system and the health care system. Brandi has been in private practice at Creating Solutions for the last 13 years and works with diverse clients, including children, youth, adults, and families both in evaluation and therapy. When working with families experiencing separation and divorce, Brandi’s primary focus continues to be healthy children and healthy family systems regardless of the current level of conflict. As a result, Brandi works with families at various levels of legal involvement, from those completing a “kitchen table” agreement to those within a litigation process. Outside of separation and divorce clients, Brandi also specializes in clients experiencing the impacts of motor vehicle accidents, educational assessments, and various mental health diagnoses.
Secretary

Secretary

Dr. Susan Clark

R. Psychologist

Dr. Susan Clark is a Registered Psychologist and co-founder of the Calgary-based private practice: Taylor Clark Psychological Services. Dr. Clark has extensive clinical and forensic experience, in Canada and the USA, specializing in divorce and separation. She is a member in good standing of the College of Alberta Psychologists. In addition to her private practice, Dr. Clark often volunteers her time as an Expert Witness for the University of Calgary Trial Advocacy Program. Dr. Clark has lectured at the University level and presented at nationally and internationally renowned conferences. Her involvement within the psycho-legal arena has led her to specialize in high conflict Child Custody Evaluations, Parent Consultant, Views of the Child Interventions, Parenting Coordination-Arbitration, Reunification Therapy, and Litigation Support. Most recently, she contributed to the latest provisions of the Alberta Court of Queen’s Bench Practice Note 7 and 8.
Board Member

Board Member

Tracy Brown

Lawyer

Tracy joined the Board in 2019 and has been instrumental in establishing the AFCC Alberta ad hoc Committee on Parenting Coordination tasked with coordinating a Provincial Working Group with the overarching goal of advancing the practice of Parenting Coordination (PC) in Alberta. Tracy is a passionate advocate for reasonable “do no harm” resolutions to Family disputes. She is a trained Mediator, Parenting Coordinator, and a registered Collaborative Lawyer with considerable experience working with high-conflict families. She represents both children and parents in and out of Court. As the founder and managing lawyer for Brown Law Group, a Family Law firm in Edmonton, Tracy mentors young lawyers and students. In addition to her contributions to the AFCC Board, Tracy is on the Executive of the CBA Family Law Section (North) and the CBA Small Solo & General Practice Section (North), she is a member of the Women’s Legal Forum of the Alberta Civil Trial Lawyers Association and the Alberta Court of Queen’s Bench Family Law Consulting Committee, and she volunteers with the Edmonton Community Legal Centre. Tracy obtained a B.A.Hons (1994) from the University of Toronto in International Development Studies and spent some 20 years before Law working on international human rights and post-war development in the Americas and Africa. She obtained a Juris Doctor Law degree from Osgoode Hall Law School (2009), and was called to the Ontario and Alberta Bar in 2010.
Board Member

Board Member

Dr. Erin Buhr

Ph.D., R. Psychologist

has been in clinical practice since 2001 working with parents, children and families. She is a Registered Psychologist with an undergraduate degree in Psychology from the University of Calgary and a graduate degree in Counselling Psychology from Gonzaga University in Spokane, Washington. Ms. Lux has specialized training and experience in working with couples and their families as they go through divorce and post-divorce. Ms. Lux provides divorce-related forensic services such as parent mediation, parent coordination, co-parenting counselling, reunification therapy, psychological testing, parenting-time/parenting responsibility assessments (previously known as bilateral custody and access assessments), parental fitness evaluations and litigation support. She has published in the area of coercive control and its relevance to best interest determinations in Canadian family law.
Board Member

Board Member

Glenda Lux

M.A., R. Psychologist

Ms. Lux has been in clinical practice since 2001 working with parents, children and families. She is a Registered Psychologist with an undergraduate degree in Psychology from the University of Calgary and a graduate degree in Counselling Psychology from Gonzaga University in Spokane, Washington. Ms. Lux has specialized training and experience in working with couples and their families as they go through divorce and post-divorce. Ms. Lux provides divorce-related forensic services such as parent mediation, parent coordination, co-parenting counselling, reunification therapy, psychological testing, parenting-time/parenting responsibility assessments (previously known as bilateral custody and access assessments), parental fitness evaluations and litigation support. She has published in the area of coercive control and its relevance to best interest determinations in Canadian family law.
Board Member

Board Member

Yoko Azumaya

Family Lawyer

Yoko obtained her Law Degree from the University of Alberta in 2007 after achieving a Master’s Degree in Neuroscience from the University of Hiroshima and a second Master’s Degree in Psychiatry from the University of Alberta. Yoko has focused her practice in Family Law, including divorce, parenting, support, and division of property issues, with a goal to help families transition through this difficult period. She is diligent in explaining not only the law but also the process to her clients to reduce the emotional and psychological stress of the breakup. Yoko believes that parties reach the most satisfactory outcomes through collaborative negotiation, preferring to avoid litigation unless no other reasonable solution can be reached. She has been training to become a mediator through the ADR Institute of Alberta (ADRIA) and stays current with changes in the law by regularly attending legal education courses and Canadian Bar Association seminars. She is also a registered Collaborative lawyer. Yoko joined Barr LLP in 2013 and became a partner in 2015. Yoko is proud to be a part of Barr LLP, a highly regarded Family Law group with a wealth of knowledge and years of expertise from which to draw from. Yoko’s mother tongue is Japanese, having moved to Edmonton from Hiroshima, Japan in 1998. She has been actively involved in the Edmonton Japanese Community Association and is a past-president of the organization. Much of Yoko’s free time is dedicated to volunteering. She has been an executive member of the Family Law Section of the Canadian Bar Association (CBA) North section since 2016. In 2023, she was voted in to be a CBA Board Member to support fellow members further.
Past President Statement
President's Message

Message from the AFCC Alberta Chapter Past-President,

Judith Lake C. Med.

 

Hello.  I am so excited and grateful to be able to play a role in this wonderful organization.  I have been a member of AFCC since 2012 and have found the resources and opportunities invaluable.  As a mediator, most of my work is done in isolation.  Before joining AFCC, I rarely had a chance to talk with others outside the mediation world who were providing assistance to those going through separation and divorce and experiencing family conflict.  I had many questions: What happened to mediated agreements if they were used in court?  What might I include or do differently that would be helpful to lawyers creating minutes of settlement?  What is most important to share with mediation clients looking for counselling services for themselves and their children?  Being a part of AFCC has provided the answers to these questions and many more.

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I have benefitted greatly from AFCC’s interdisciplinary focus.  The amazing conferences and webinars, as well as my continuous engagement with many members of AFCC, have helped me stay current and connected.  The quarterly Family Court Review, for example, has been invaluable as a source of information when creating mediation training and when educating myself and challenging my own viewpoints.  The Resource Center is one of my go-to websites, a place I can send clients for trusted internet resources.  Our informal Edmonton Supper Club gatherings have been a golden opportunity to get some of my questions answered and to have enthusiastic discussions with those lawyers, social workers, judges, counsellors, parent coordinators, court workers … so many dedicated professionals trying to improve the lives of children and families dealing with family law issues.  And last but not least, serving on the AFCC Alberta Board has been one of my favorite AFCC activities so far.  Every month I am fortunate to meet with an amazing group of people willing to share their time and knowledge with the shared goal of improving the resolution of family conflict.  I would encourage everyone to not only join AFCC, but to also to get involved in the Board and Committee work and connect with our many gifted members.  The benefits are amazing!

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- Judith Lake, C. Med, 

AFCC Alberta Chapter Past President

A Brief History
eileen ailon calgary.jpg

Eileen Ailon

A BRIEF HISTORY OF ALBERTA CHAPTER OF AFCC FROM INCEPTION IN 2012 TO COMING OF AGE IN 2019

Eileen has been a Registered Psychologist since 1975. She has been in private practice since 1980, bringing a wide range of skills and experience to the firm. Additionally, she is a trained Mediator and believes these skills are invaluable in the broadening arenas of conflict resolution.

A BRIEF HISTORY OF ALBERTA AFCC FROM INCEPTION IN 2012 TO COMING OF AGE IN 2019

 

The Association of Family and Conciliation Courts is an interdisciplinary and international association of professionals dedicated to improving the lives of children and families through the resolution of family conflict. AFCC members share a strong commitment to education, innovation and collaboration in order to benefit communities, empower families and promote a healthy future of children.  Attending AFCC trainings and conferences, generally located in various cities in the USA, contributed to a significant base of professionals in Alberta, believing that membership in AFCC was helpful to the point of being a requisite to working with families in transition and especially those who were in conflict.

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At an AFCC Annual Conference in Vancouver B.C., in 2011, several Albertans were invited to the dinner celebration, for the Ontario Chapter of AFCC coming into being. Their excitement as the first Canadian AFCC Chapter, was contagious. After a terrifying but exhilarating taxi ride back to the conference hotel, several Alberta delegates agreed that as we had survived the “kamikaze” taxi driver, we could take on the Chapter building task. We decided that if Ontario could form a Chapter, then Alberta could absolutely do so…and the rest is history.

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The parent organization and the Ontario Chapter were incredibly generous with their assistance as we progressed from concept to fruition. We applied for our Provisional Chapter Status on August 15 of 2012. We worked through the parent organization’s “Chapter Tool Kit” step by step and we succeeded on gaining the initial requirement of 75 members in our province and progressed to become a Chapter. We had industrious people on the Coordinating Committee, who guided us through the process with their dedication and wisdom.

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The Honourable Judge Lynn Cook-Stanhope, the Honourable Madam Justice Andrea Moen, The Honourable Mr. Justice Bryan Mahoney, Jane Hoffman (lawyer), Patricia Hebert (lawyer), Dr. Bonnie Haave (psychologist), Dr. Stephen Carter (psychologist) and Eileen Ailon (psychologist), formed the Coordinating Committee. The process of setting up the Chapter involved a good deal of time and the completion of many tasks. The committee worked to build the membership base, prepare  the Chapter by-laws, designate a Chapter liaison with the parent organization, develop a web site, develop a financial plan and budget, develop a treasurer’s report and submit financial statements to the Coordinating Committee, gain incorporation under the Societies Act of the Government of Alberta, apply to register as a charity under the Income Tax Act, set up the key committees of the Board of Directors, set up Board Liability Insurance, set up Chapter bank account, design a Chapter logo, and plan for trainings and conferences relevant to Alberta members. It took over 2 years to work through the process to become a Chartered Chapter.

 

On March 14, 2014, Alberta AFCC held its Inaugural Board of Director’s Meeting at the University of Alberta, Faculty of Law. Dr. Stephen Carter, psychologist, was elected our first President. The members of the first board included: Judge Nancy Flatters, Krista Frohlich (lawyer), Bonnie Have (psychologist), Elise Lavigne, (lawyer), Greg Pickering (psychologist), Nicole Sheldon (psychologist), Barbara Sheptycki (psychologist), Lorri Yasenik (social worker), Jane Hoffman (lawyer) and Eileen Ailon (psychologist). The membership of the board reflected the interdisciplinary, professional backgrounds of members as well as the geographical make up of our province. We alternated Presidents as coming from either Edmonton or Calgary and alternated the location of our annual conferences between these two major centers in Alberta. (Read More)

Let’s
Connect

AFCC Alberta Chapter 

 c/o Mr. Jonathan Tieman, Treasurer,

Maclean Wiedemann Lawyers LLP

422 6th Street S.E. 

Medicine Hat,

Alberta  T1A 1H5

587-760-1119

afccalberta@gmail.com

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