THE 5 CORE CONVERSATIONS FOR COUPLES AVAILABLE FOR PRE-ORDER!
David Bulitt's latest book is co-authored with his wife Julie, a family therapist. Published by Skyhorse Publishing and Simon & Schuster ebooks, THE 5 CORE CONVERSATIONS FOR COUPLES is now available for pre order on all major online book sellers.
THE 5 CORE CONVERSATIONS FOR COUPLES tackles every corner of relationships with the wisdom, knowledge and best advice culled from David and Julie's unique personal and professional experiences, organized topically into the five core reasons that clients come into their offices. Take a look inside the hearts and minds of two marriage professionals to gain a fresh perspective into your own relationships and to have valuable and more frequent conversations with those you love.
Pre-order our copy of THE 5 CORE CONVERSATIONS FOR COUPLES on:
Amazon at https://www.amazon.com/Five-Core-Conversations-Couples-Communication/dp/1510746129/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=david+bulitt&qid=1567018666&s=gateway&sr=8-1 or Simon & Schuster at https://www.simonandschuster.com/books/The-Five-Core-Conversations-for-Couples/David-Bulitt/9781510746121.
Bethesda Magazine feature
Bethesda Magazine feature - https://bethesdamagazine.com/bethesda-magazine/september-october-2018/talking-shop/
The Bulitts - http://thebulitts.com
DAVID AND JULIE BULITT LAUNCH ‘SHOPTALK’ FACEBOOK PAGE
https://www.facebook.com/Shoptalk-172783613413991/
BREAKING NEWS: DAVID AND JULIE BULITT SIGN LITERARY CONTRACT WITH THE SEYMOUR AGENCY
"SHOP TALK: 5 Core Conversations to Keep Your Relationship Off the Couch and Out of Court".
What happens when a top divorce lawyer and a family therapist close the door and really talk? What’s on their minds? What makes them laugh, yell, and cry? Who gets the last word?
Married for 31 years, David and Julie Bulitt are that couple. He’s one of the premier DC Metro family law attorneys, having settled and litigated complex, high profile divorce and custody cases since 1986, is the published author of two well-received novels and a frequent guest on local television. She is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker with more than 20 years of experience working with children, teens, and families and the founder of Live Sane, LLC, which has a special focus on dealing with AD/HD. She is also an in-house therapist at Discovery Channel.
Together, David and Julie have seen up close families struggling with life’s most difficult challenges, including addiction, infidelity, mental health diagnoses, learning disabilities, abuse, serious illness, estrangement, and trauma. At the same time, they have weathered their own challenges at home, raising four daughters, two biological and two adopted, and dealing with one child’s mental health and behavioral issues, including eventual addiction and running away.
What they’ve learned about saving a marriage, keeping a family together, or knowing when to call it quits, when to turn to professionals or when to try tough love, could fill a book — and it does. Shop Talk tackles every corner of relationships with the wisdom, knowledge, and best advice culled from David and Julie’s unique experiences. Drawn from notes of their discussions, chats, arguments — not always sober — and frank, funny stories, it openly tackles the basics from getting along, to parenting, communication, and sex, as well as hard-to-discuss issues like addiction, infertility, pornography, and family silence. Shop Talk takes you inside how these two professionals hash out some of life’s toughest personal challenges, revealing what they really think and say to each other.
Stay tuned on news and updates as Julie Gwinn and The Seymour Agency work to find SHOP TALK a publishing home!
David Bulitt interviewed by the Dating Advisory Board
The Dating Advisory Board is an online vlog hosted by Hecht that takes real-world business strategies from many industries to show how they can be used to create a dating strategy. The goal of the website is to empower women to approach their lives and the dating world with passion, clarity and conviction.
David Bulitt is a family lawyer, and JGL’s Assistant Managing Director. For years, David has been included amongst the DC area’s top divorce lawyers and is a published author.
Click here to learn more about David's legal and writing careers in this web show interview.
Saving Children and Families from Opioid Addiction
Drug Treatment Court gives addicts an opportunity for treatment instead of prison. Family Recovery Court works to reunite families by helping parents who have had had their children taken away. Both programs have been in place since about 2004, but have become even more important with the growth of the opioid crisis. The courts will offer sanctions and terminate the program if necessary, but the focus is clearly on helping participants who are serious about turning their lives around.
By creating a collaborative group around each case, the court can monitor and guide every step of recovery. Each is a voluntary program that includes random, frequent drug testing, intensive outpatient or inpatient care and frequent court appearances. Many individuals who have drug addiction issues also suffer form mental illness. The “dual diagnosis” individuals can be particularly hard to treat. The overall treatment approach is to focus on getting the patient clean and helping them rebuild their lives – from mental health, to parenting and job skills training.
Drug Treatment Courts operate across Maryland and Family Recovery Courts are now in place in Harford, Baltimore, Charles and St. Mary’s. Counties.
In Maryland, and in similar programs across the country, rates of success have been high, with low recidivism. Many families every year are regaining their lives, while the cost to taxpayers is far less than that for foster care and prison. As one might imagine, I am hoping this trend continues and continues to expand throughout Maryland and the nation.
Divorce and Special-Needs Children
I have been a divorce lawyer for more than 30 years. Over that period, I have represented many parents with special needs children. Maryland judges have also appointed me, on well over a hundred occasions, to represent children as a Best Interests Attorney. Many of those children have also had special needs. These cases can be extremely difficult matters to litigate, particularly when the children experience mental health issues, learning disabilities or behavioral difficulties. The symptomology of these often cannot easily be seen, explained or understood.
For better or worse, I come to these cases with not only my experience as a lawyer, but also as a parent of a child with lifetime mental health issues. Like a cardiologist who has experienced a heart ailment or an oncologist who has had cancer, I believe my own personal experience with my child has helped me to understand the needs of these children, the nuances of what works and what doesn’t when it comes to time-sharing arrangements, as well as the myriad of issues that these children are faced with when shuttling between two homes.
A child who is eligible for special education services under the federal Individuals With Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) will have an Individualized Education Program, or IEP, created for him or her. IDEA provides individualized services to students in public schools and emphasizes inclusion of all students with disabilities to the extent possible with their non-disabled peers. The IEP sets forth the needed information about the child in all areas that are educationally relevant. It is developed with input from both school personnel and the family and is based on the child’s present levels of performance. The IEP includes aspects of academic work, functional skills, social skills, behavior, and emotional health. If needed, an IEP may provide for speech, occupational or physical therapy. Similarly, some children have what are called 504 Plans, which are developed to ensure that a child who has a disability identified under the law and who attends an elementary or secondary educational institution receives accommodations that will ensure their academic success and access to the learning environment.
Parents in the midst of divorce who have special needs children should think carefully about their choice of a lawyer, particularly if custodial disputes are anticipated. When interviewing lawyers, the parent should ask about the lawyer’s experience in working with families that have special needs children, inquire into his or her understanding of the nuances that might be necessary in negotiating parenting plans and agreements as well as the impact on child support and the often complex decision making issues faced by parents raising these children. Another area to discuss with potential counsel is his or her experience taking these types of cases to court, and the strategy involved in putting forth the necessary evidence to explain the child’s issues and related needs.
Whenever I have a case that involves a child with special needs, I review school records that document the disability and that describe the IEP or 504 plans that have been designed to meet the child’s unique needs. I look at medical records as well, including psychological and behavioral evaluations, all in the course of helping my client retain an important role in the child’s life after the divorce and in the course of trying to provide for the needs of the child.
It’s important to remember that in most cases, regardless of the custody agreement or court decision, both parents will likely always be a critical part of his or her child’s growth and development. Even in the most hotly contested custody matters, parents should be counseled and made to understand that the other parent will continue to have a place in the child’s life long after the lawyer has moved on to another case. This is particularly true for parents of special needs children, who face very unique and “special” problems and complications of their own.