Support for Divorced Parents Experiencing Stress, Anxiety or Depression
Here at the Divorced Parent Telesummit, we know every divorcing or divorced parent experiences some degree of stress, anxiety and/or depression along their journey. It is our desire to help help educate, inform and provide you with various types of support to help you heal from your divorce and move forward in hope. We cannot emphasize enough how important it is to take care of yourself during and after divorce. When you get the support you need, the better you will handle your divorce. How you handle your divorce determines the impact it will have on your children.
On Monday, April 30th at 9pm ET/6pm PT we will be hosting a live call with our special guest, Bambi Thompson. Bambi is an Occupational Therapist with 30 years of Holistic Healing Study, She supports people with Anxiety , Depression, and ADHD to reclaim control of their lives with non-medication alternatives: using the mind to create freedom and relief from their struggles.
Mediation Helps You Help Your Children
Mediation is usually required before your case can go to trial – for the divorce or for a modification case. For many parents, this is just one more “hoop” to jump through in the divorce process. But if you look at the mediation requirement like that, you’ll miss a critical part of it. Mediation is more than trading assets and number of overnights – it can actually help you help your children.
Preparing for Mediation
By preparing for the mediation process, you can learn What’s really important to you and why. Knowing the “what” and “why” of your position helps you to be able to create compromises that work. For divorcing parents, mediation can mean the difference between being a divorced family with a lot of conflict continuing past the final judgment and one that can effectively negotiate different opinions.
That’s why it is good to spend some time prior to the mediation conference thinking about what you really want after the divorce. I’m not talking about making a list of the property you want, although that’s a good idea. I’m talking bigger than that. I’m talking about things like, “What kind of values do you want your kids to see in action?” and “How do you want to interact with your child’s other parent after the divorce?” and “What do you want your child to know about resolving conflict?”
Mediation Helps You Help Your Children
An effective mediation helps you both work through disagreements and gives you practice at how to handle disagreements in the future. Not only is that valuable for you as a parent, it also helps you demonstrate to your children how to effectively work thorugh conflict. Let’s face it, we all have conflict everyday at some level. Learning how to identify and express your needs and create compromises are skills that your child will need to have so they can successfully negotiate through life. It’d be great if they could learn that from you, so take some time to understand your position as you prepare for mediation.
Preparing for the Divorce Process
If you happen to be one of the people beginning the divorce process this January, I am sorry. I can truly say that I know how you feel. It was January 5th, 2001 when my husband informed me “he was ready to move on.”
Knowing how stressful the divorce process is, I wanted to take this opportunity to share some tips and valuable information to help you prepare for the process. Finances and children are typically the most important and stressful issues.
Before Seeing a Divorce Attorney
Before going to see an attorney, do your research. The internet can be a tremendous resource for understanding your options for getting through the divorce process. Be sure the websites are credible resources. Be organized and prepared before meeting with an attorney. Figure out what information you want from an attorney. Make a list of questions you want to ask.
The Divorce Filing Season
Did you know that more people file for divorce in January than in any other month of the year? This has been true for years. We don’t know exactly why it is; maybe it stems from that same urge that makes you want to buy organizer products and get your house organized.
Whatever the reason for the filing season, we are hosting a free call next Monday night for parents who starting their divorce journey. It can be a scary place because you feel so alone. Or it may be exhilarating that you are launching into a new phase. Either way, when you venture into new territory like divorce, it’s nice to have some divorce help and divorce support along with way. That’s why we decided to hold monthly calls with our readers this year.
Here’s what we will be covering in our first divorce support call on January 16th:
- Options for completing your divorce
- Areas that must be dealt with during the divorce process
- Professional help that is available during the divorce process
- Tips to start off co-parenting without conflict
We’ll also be answering questions submitted by our readers. If you are on the Divorced Parent Telesummit mailing list already, you will receive the call information on Monday.
If you do not currently receive our emails, we’ll send you the call information if you provide your email address on the form below.
If you have questions you want answered during the call, you can leave them in the comment section here.
Divorce: 12 Great Ways for Taking Care of Yourself
My last post I asked you to honestly answer a list of questions about how you were taking care of yourself.Today I want to share with you a list of ideas for taking care of yourself (especially during the busy holiday season.) I know you are busy so I want to make this as easy as possible. I have prepared a list below of 12 ways that you can care for yourself. Review the list and write down the ones that speak to you. Then take a few minutes to add or modify options that are more suitable to you.
12 Great Ways for taking care of yourself:
- Spend 15 minutes in the morning preparing for the day ahead. Begin with thinking of things you are grateful for in your life. Focus on the good things; don’t let your mind focus on the negative. If you are a believer, begin by reading your Bible, read the Proverb that corresponds with the date. If you like to meditate, to get centered and focused for the day, meditate.
- Exercise 30 minutes 3-5 times a week. (Determine the days you will do it and when) You can include the kids with a bike ride, hike, run, or swim… Read More Here…
Divorced Parent Telesummit Introducing Bill McLeod
Today we are happy to introduce you to Bill McLeod, the third speaker in our line-up. Bill is the creator of SingleParentsTown.com. He is a full-time, 24/7,single dad of two children. We were intrigued with Bill’s story and the challenges him and his family have had to overcome.
Bill’s wife had issues with alcohol which eventually led to their separation; Bill having full-time custody of his children, divorce and eventually the death of his ex-wife 5 years ago. Bill has dealt with more challenges
than many of us single parents and yet continues to maintain a positive outlook on life.
Join us on Wednesday, September 28th for the Divorced Parent Telesummit call when Bill will share what it is like to have your children experience circumstances in their young lives that no child should have to face: confusion, fear, grief and anxiety. Learn how he handled his circumstances and what advice he has for others. 
Perhaps Bill says it best: Read More Here…
Losing a Child Custody Case
Losing a child custody case may feel like you have lost your child forever. Legal restrictions will be limiting your ability to be with your child when and how you want to be. Nobody can blame the parents who have lost custody of their kids if they will feel bitter, angry, depressed and anxious after learning that even after the painful process of fighting for child custody, your efforts did not succeed. However, no matter how painful the experience must be, you must not give up on your children.
Experts say that in order to overcome the ill feelings of losing a contested case, a person needs motivation. This is because when people are motivated, they more often achieve their goals and dreams in life despite painful experiences.
Studies also show that even though motivation from other people helps a lot, it is best if Read More Here…
Preparing Yourself for Single Parenting
Many divorced parents don’t realize that you can start preparing yourself for single parenting once you have made the decision to divorce. Being a single parent is not all drudgery. There are plenty of good aspects once you can look past the hurt and the pain brought on by the separation and divorce. Remember that the number one factor in how kids do after the divorce is the level of conflict between you and the other parent.
To those who are in the process of recovery from a failed marriage and are looking forward to raising their kids, the best thing to do is to learn how to let go of the past. Experts say that this is the best way to move on because if you dwell on the past, it will only serve as a reminder of your failed marriage. And if you keep thinking about failure, you will get caught up in a never ending cycle of blaming yourself or your ex-spouse. The experts in the Divorce Parent Telesummit will provide you with tools to move through the grieving process so you can let go of the sense of failure and anger about the divorce. Even if you are just starting the divorce Read More Here…
10 Tips for Hiring a Family Lawyer
Whether you are just starting the divorce process or want to modify your final judgment, 
hiring a family lawyer is not something most people have experience with. Here are 10 tips for hiring and working with a family lawyer:
- Ask for recommendations from your friends. This is the best place to begin.
- Make an appointment for an initial consultation. Do not be surprised if the family lawyer charges for the initial consult, but do expect to walk away with some information about how your case will shake out.
- Compile a list of questions to take with you. Ask questions. Be prepared. Read More Here…
Divorced Fathers – 4 Common Myths
Some people think that when it comes to divorce, divorced fathers have it made in the shade. It’s a common misperception that women always have it harder than men after divorce. There are many common myths about divorced fathers have arisen through the past 30 years. In fact, men and women are a lot alike when it comes to feeling pain and inflicting it, except that most men do not typically show and tell the world how they feel. It is not only women and children who feel the pain on the road to divorce. Men feel it too.
Myth #1 Divorced Fathers Are Not Emotional about the Divorce
It is a common myth that men don’t get hurt when their marriages break up. Society has a set of opinion that stereotypes divorced men as womanizers, infidels, dead beat dads, and even irresponsible jerks. However, these are not true for all divorced fathers. Though some divorced dads prove otherwise, many others feel that they have to struggle to keep their family intact and suffer emotionally when their marriages break up. Not all men are only worried about paying child support. Many divorced dads cannot bear the thought of seeing their children only twice a month. When the question of hurt feelings arise, these fathers do not fit the common myth that only women feel hurt emotionally. It is actually just as difficult for children and divorced fathers to cope with a messy divorce.
Myth #2 Divorced Fathers Lose Interest in the Kids
There is also a myth that says that divorced fathers do not care or lose interest in their their children after divorce. This is not true at all. Most of the fathers that we have seen care Read More Here…
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