Category: Challenging and Timely Issues
Age range: all ages
Adjusting to separation and divorce is an ongoing emotional process that affects all family members. For many parents, managing work and family life becomes an enormous struggle as does managing the myriad of changes taking place in all family members’ lives. In addition to the major responsibility of taking care of their children and helping them cope, divorcing parents also need to take care of themselves and to allow for their own adjustment. A primary goal for this series is to help parents understand and deal with their children’s reactions to separation and divorce. Guidelines and strategies for communicating with children about difficult issues will be presented. An additional emphasis in these sessions will be to help parents find ways to deal with their own feelings and needs.
Helping Children Adjust to Divorce consists of 4 sessions:
Note: This 4 part series can also be scheduled as a 2 or 3 session series. Each session can also be scheduled as an individual workshop.
1. The Challenges of Being a Divorced Parent and Some Approaches for Dealing With Them
Adjusting to divorce and its impact on parenting is an ongoing challenge for both parents and children. There are difficult times of stress and strain, especially during the first few years when parents and children are confronted with so much change and so many mixed feelings. This session will provide some information and ideas for dealing with issues that commonly come up for children and parents around divorce.
2. The Impact of Divorce on Children: How Parents Can Help
Children’s ages and stages of development at the time of divorce are our best indicators of how they are likely to understand and react to what is happening in their families. This session helps parents distinguish between typical behavior for children at various ages and behavior that may be more reactionary to changing family situations. Strategies for setting appropriate behavioral expectations and helping children process their feelings are shared and practiced.
3. When You Don’t Know What to Say: Improving Communication with Your Child(ren)
The quality of communication between parents and children during and following the stress of separation or divorce is so important in helping all family members adjust. There are often emotional obstacles to talking honestly with children and it is hard to know how much information children really need or want, and how open to be. This session helps parents communicate with children in a manner which allows them to feel emotionally secure, listened to, understood and supported.
4. Focus on You: How to Take Care of Yourself
Current research on divorce suggests that children tend to do best when parents take care of their own needs while also attending to the needs of their children. This takes a great deal of insight and energy. Parents often find it difficult to accept that making time and finding support for themselves can or should be a priority after a separation or divorce. This session helps parents who are separating or divorcing, determine some priorities for themselves and make specific plans to meet their needs. It also explores why this is helpful for parents and for their children.