Co-Parenting in the Age of COVID-19

These are unprecedented and extraordinary times, to say the least! The landscape is fluid and changing minute by minute and day to day. Parents are worrying about their own health in addition to that of their children, parents, siblings, community, friends. They are also worried about their businesses, livelihood and finances, today and in the future. Children are out of school and home 24/7.

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Why Is Money So Hard to Talk About?

One of the most difficult issues in a marriage and a frequent cause of marital demise is the inability to talk about money and create a partnership around financial management. We’re all raised in unique family cultures, with different experiences and financial realities, and we bring our family money histories and narratives into our adult relationships. 

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Coping With the Holidays Without Your Children

Last year as the holidays approached, I came across a blog entitled “Coping With Divorce When the Kids Are With the Other Parent During the Holidays” by psychologist Sharie Stines. In my own life experience, and in working with parents going through a divorce, I recognize what a critical and deeply distressing time this is, especially for recently divorced or separated parents who are without their children on the holidays for the first time.

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The Impact of a Gray Divorce on Adult Children

The Impact of a Gray Divorce on Adult Children by Lauren Behrman

Some months back, my colleague Andrea Vacca, a collaborative divorce professional, wrote about the financial implications of gray divorce (divorcing over age 50). She referenced an article in Forbes that discussed the many areas of life that are affected by gray divorce, including the impact on adult children. Regardless of age, divorce often draws adult children away from their progress into finding their own identities, careers, and love, and back into the family dynamic. 

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Divorcing Over 50: What to Expect

The term “gray divorce” refers to people who divorce later in life, generally after long marriages.

Divorcing Over 50: What to Expect by Lauren Behrman

In the article, “Divorce After 50: What I Wish I Had Known Beforehand” (originally published on Marketwatch), people going through gray divorces share information that they wish they could have shared with their younger selves, thus providing important considerations for others.

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Parents Living Together After Divorce

Parents Living Together After Divorce by Lauren Behrman

Some time ago, I read an article in the Washington Post entitled, “My Parents Divorced Yet Continued to Live Together.” The author, Mekita Rivas, whose divorced parents lived together for 10 years post-divorce, wrote about the confusion and complications of their choices and the impact on her as a child.

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Questions to Ask Yourself After Your Marriage Ends: Whose Needs are They Anyway?

Questions to Ask Yourself After Your Marriage Ends: Whose Needs are They Anyway? by Lauren Behrman

When a marriage ends, all parties grieve differently. The healing process for the divorcing couple often looks and feels very different from the children’s process. The myriad changes following divorce really impact the children. Parents who have been in painful relationships can be very eager to form a new relationship, and for their children to meet the new significant other in their lives. They may feel that their children need to see them in a healthy and happy relationship that they didn’t see during the marriage. Parents may also feel that they don’t have enough time with their new partner and with their children, and seek to maximize the time by spending time altogether. Unfortunately, many parents have a hard time seeing this experience through the eyes of their children and its impact on them.

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