Parents facing a disrupted relationship with their child need to know that the clinician they consult will take their concerns seriously without rushing to an explanation. Dr. Washam brings extensive training, sustained clinical experience, and careful attention to the emotional effects of family conflict and separation.
Experience with families facing difficult circumstances
Since 2020, Dr. Washam has worked in more than 55 high-conflict, court-related family matters, including reunification therapy, co-parenting interventions, and related clinical services. These cases often involve grief, mistrust, entrenched conflict, competing accounts of family history, and the practical demands of court involvement.
When appropriate and authorized, he consults with legal and mental-health professionals to support the clinical work. Such collaboration does not alter his role as a treating clinician or convert the engagement into custody evaluation or advocacy for either parent.
Advanced training, brought into the room with your family
Dr. Washam is a Board Certified Diplomate in Psychoanalysis, with additional Diplomate credentials in Clinical Social Work and Medical Psychotherapy. His advanced psychoanalytic preparation includes study at the Atlanta Psychoanalytic Institute and the Seabury Institute of Pastoral Psychotherapy, with particular attention to object-relations theory.
He also graduated from Loyola University Chicago School of Law, with a concentration in child and family law. This education helps him understand the legal context of court-involved family treatment; his professional role remains that of a clinician, not a family-law attorney or custody evaluator.
These different forms of preparation help him consider the child’s emotional development, the family’s attachment patterns, experiences of loss and injury, and the pressures that can continue after separation. His approach draws on more than one explanation because families rarely fit a single theory.
In addition to his clinical and psychoanalytic work, Dr. Washam has served as an ordained Episcopal priest since 1978.
Understanding comes before a treatment plan
Dr. Washam does not begin by deciding which parent is right. He considers the child’s history and emotional experience, the conduct and concerns of each adult, possible safety issues, and influences that may have contributed to the loss of contact.
His methodology draws on psychoanalytic and object-relations theory, attachment, development, and family systems. These perspectives help illuminate anxieties, loyalties, grief, anger, and repeated patterns that may not be evident from the legal history alone.
What you can expect from his approach
You can expect to be listened to seriously and treated with dignity. You can also expect careful questions, attention to competing explanations, and clarity about the boundaries and goals of treatment.
He understands lasting relational change as a process in which trust is built through dependable conduct, insight develops through greater awareness of oneself and others, and communication improves through empathy, accountability, and emotional responsiveness. The objective is not the appearance of harmony for one meeting; it is the possibility of a more secure and enduring relationship.
Sources & further reading
Dr. Charles W. Washam: Professional Statement of Qualifications and Methodology
Dr. Washam: professional biographyDr. Charles W. Washam: professional practice website