January has been tagged as ‘Divorce Month‘ in both the U.S. and the U.K., given the unusually high number of calls to attorneys and therapists during this month. The Huffington Post, The Guardian, and the Independent hypothesize that the stressors of the holidays, travel, family time, and financial tensions create significant conflict between partners, which could lead to high volume divorce inquiries.
KIDS ARE RESILIENT
Although divorce can be stressful for young children, kids are resilient and adaptive, and the research demonstrates that most kids from divorcing families fare well. However, many experts agree that the key to a healthy divorce for children is that the parents engage in cooperative co-parenting, minimize conflict, blame, and put-downs, and keep the home environment stable, consistent, and predictable.
RADIO INTERVIEW WITH DR. MAKER
Recently, the Child Centered Divorce Network interviewed Dr. Maker in depth to discuss tips and tools to navigate divorce tug-of-wars in positive ways and in the best interest of the children. In the interview, Dr. Maker explains how it is not the divorce itself per se that negatively impacts kids; instead, it is the way you divorce and how you process the family changes with the children that can have a powerful negative or positive effect on the kids.
FAMILY CHANGES: EXPLAINING DIVORCE TO CHILDREN
In the interview, Dr. Maker also elaborates on how to use her award winning children’s book, Family Changes: Explaining Divorce To Children, in effective ways in the home and in the classroom. Family Changes provides a guideline for parents on the language and words to use with young children to explain divorce, a helpful list of typical questions kids ask, and a beautifully illustrated story that young children can follow easily to better explore feelings and thoughts associated with divorce.
To hear Dr. Maker’s complete interview with the Child Centered Divorce Network Radio Show and to learn more about how to protect your kids from divorce tug-of-wars, please listen to the following podcast:
We hope Family Changes: Explaining Divorce To Children serves many families and kids well.