News

Now What?

Well, you’ve come to the decision that you have to divorce and you really want to get through this as peacefully as possible without spending your life savings. Just remember that as long as you and your spouse are in agreement, you can pretty much do whatever you want—it’s just a matter of figuring out the best strategy to get through the court system. Here are some things you can do to avoid litigation and get your process through your local court system.

First of all, talk to your...

People undergoing separation and divorce go through seven stages of grief. It’s important to understand the grief cycle and know what stage you are in so you can keep track of yourself emotionally and get the support you need while you are having logistical and decision-making conversations with your partner. Often, your partner will be in a different stage of the grief cycle. There are also two other emotion-related “feedback loops” going on, having to do with who initiated the separation and w...

Divorce can be wrenching when kids are involved, but there’s a lot you can do to help children cope. If you’re a parent dealing with divorce, try to remember that your child needs you now more than ever. Offering reassurance, hope, and a sense of stability can help ease the effects of divorce on children of all ages.

Children Coping With Divorce

When children are free to love both of their parents without conflict of loyalty, to have access to them both without fear of losing either, they can ...

When I’m working with divorced families, one of my goals is to help parents and children to retain, find, or redefine their own identities. All of the family members should be able to see themselves as being surrounded by their own circle of identity, even when they engage with other people.

Unfortunately, kids in divorcing families are often put into a situation where they are urged to feel more empathy for one parent over another. Or, they are put in the position of trying to figure out what ...

Divorce is a scary and overwhelming thing. Sometimes people know they are unhappy in their marriage, but have trouble deciding what to do about it. Should they stick with the “known”, or jump into the unknown territory of divorce? How does one go about making the divorce decision?

One of our Divorce With Dignity referral associates is Marriage & Family Therapist Susan Regan, MFT. We asked her to share with us some of her thoughts on this topic.

Susan, in what ways do people considering divorce...

Members in my divorce support group have discussed what bad habits they get into in their long-term relationships. I’ve often heard folks say that their long term relationships have changed them. They stopped doing things that made them feel happy and started experiencing less joy in their life in general. Group members question why they were with their partners and where things started falling apart in their relationships. Did they give up on their own lives? Was it possible to find happiness w...

This is an excerpt from the book Cooperative Parenting and Divorce: Shielding Your Child from Conflict — A Parent Guide to Effective Co-Parenting by Susan Boyan and Ann Termini. This book is dedicated to protecting the emotional health of your children from the difficulty in the transition process of divorce. I highly recommend it for further advice on the subject.

Do not talk badly about my other parent. (This make me feel torn apart! It also makes me feel
bad about myself!)

Do not talk about ...