Five Ways Parents Should Deal With A Divorce Or Separation
- TELL YOUR KIDS TOGETHER: Both parents need to tell all of the children at the same time rather than separately just before the separation actually takes place.
- EXPLAIN WHAT THE WORDS MEAN: Tell the children as clearly as you can what the actual terms separation/divorce mean, and be prepared to repeat this information several times for younger children.
- DON’T ASSESS BLAME: Either on each other and definitely don’t allude to any fault lying with the kids or any situations that involve the children
- NOTHING CHANGES IN THE CHILD/PARENT RELATIONSHIP: Assure the children that they will always be free to love both parents and both parents will continue to love and care for them.
- INTRODUCE THEM TO THEIR “SECOND HOME”: Take the children to the new residence of the parent who has moved out, so the children will know where that parent is and know where they will be coming to visit.
All in all, use a “united front” approach, the gold standard for effective co-parenting.
About the author
Dr. Kathleen M. Reay, Ph.D., D.A.A.E.T.S., R.C.C., is the author of a new book called Toxic Divorce: a Workbook for Alienated Parents Proven strategies to help you regain control of your life and overcome parental alienation or parental alienation syndrome.
Available in a soft cover edition or Ebook at all major retailers such as Amazon as well as http://parentalalienationhelp.org/toxic-divorce-a-workbook-for-alienated-parents
She is a Diplomate of the American Academy of Experts in Traumatic Stress and is an experienced licensed psychotherapist, researcher, public speaker, child custody evaluator, and litigation-related consultant to parents, attorneys and the courts as an expert on parental alienation and parental alienation syndrome.
Additionally she is recruiting research participants for a study on the long-term effects of parental alienation on alienated parents http://parentalalienationhelp.org/participate-in-a-study/
Dr. Kathleen Reay provides Parental Alienation seminars to the public and professionals for more info: http://parentalalienationhelp.org/events/ Don’t miss the her upcoming lecture on current Parental Alienation Issues held at Simon Fraser University, Surrey, British Columbia, Canada open to the the public, alienated parents, family members, legal & mental health professionals and the media. Click here for the lecture flyer for more information