Matthew Sullivan, Ph.D. is a clinical psychologist (California Lic. # PSY10214) in private practice in Palo Alto, California, who specializes in forensic child and family psychology. He has been in private practice in Palo Alto for 20 years, specializing in Forensic Family psychology.

He is a pioneer in the field of Parenting Coordination, which he helped develop in Santa Clara County more than 20 years ago, and has led the development of Parenting Coordination across the U.S. He is one of the most experienced Parent Coordinators (called Special Master in California) in the country. Some of the other roles he serves for families going through divorce include:

Numerous court appointed roles – custody evaluator, mediator, special master, testifying expert, coparent counselor and consultant – in courts across California.
Expert testimony in custody situations in jurisdictions across the U.S. Dr. Sullivan provides consultation services to forensic professionals, Family Law attorneys and parents in the context of child custody issues.
Numerous articles, published and trainings provided at numerous national and international venues on topics such as high-conflict divorce, Parent Coordination, Forensic Consultation, Court-involved therapy and Child Alienation.
Dr. Sullivan completed a year in 2007 providing the California Rule of Court 5.225 mandatory training of over 200 Custody Evaluators in California.
He served on the editorial board of the Journal of Child Custody, the Association of Family and Conciliation Courts Task Force on Parenting Coordination and served as the co-chair of the task force for Court-involved therapy. Both of these tasks forces produced the first professional practice guidelines for these roles. He was appointed in 2008 to a joint working group of the American Psychological Association and the American Bar Association to develop innovative psychological and legal interventions for parents, children and families.

He is serving on the Association of Family and Conciliation Court’s Board of Directors for both the international parent organization and California Chapter.

Dr. Sullivan won the 2012 Joseph Drown award from the California Association of Family and Conciliation Courts for “Outstanding services to children”.

Dr. Sullivan can be reached:

by phone (650) 326-2004

by fax (650) 745-2800