Recovering from Divorce by Portland Helmich

Recovering from DivorceWe are pleased to share a terrific piece by writer Portland Helmich that delves into the approach we take in our program at Kripalu Center for Yoga & Health.

After 18 years together, my ex-husband and I separated in 2008. We divorced in 2010. It was the most painful experience of my life, bar none. Read More

No Matter Where They’re From or How Old They Are, the Children Blame Themselves

No Matter Where They’re From or How Old They Are, the Children Blame Themselves by Lauren BehrmanLast spring, Jeff and I conducted a series of workshops and seminars for professionals in Wuhan, China. In one of the workshops, we asked the participants to write letters as if they were children caught in the middle of divorcing parents. Read More

The Warm and Hospitable People of China

The Warm and Hospitable People of China by Lauren BehrmanWhen Jeff and I accepted the invitation to visit China, we knew we were going to have a once-in-a-lifetime experience. As we described in our previous blog, our pre-trip planning had been fascinating. Even so, we could never have imagined how amazing the trip would actually be!

Jeff and I stepped off the plane in Wuhan and were immediately met with incredible hospitality. Our greeters, Lily and Finny, were warm, kind and lovely—truly soulful people. Lily is a graduate student and Finny did much of the organization for Oriental Insight, the group that invited us to China. Read More

How to Mitigate the Non-Constructive Results of Confrontation: Tips for Professionals

How to Mitigate the Non-Constructive Results of Confrontation: Tips for Professionals by Jeff ZimmermanConfrontation is often interpreted as an attack. In counseling scenarios, regardless of what the professional therapist or mediator is confronting (feelings, ideas, logic, etc.), the client’s response is generally to do one of three things: fight, flee, or freeze.

Fighting back, shutting down, or experiencing a sort of paralysis in thinking is seldom constructive, particularly in a collaborative divorce or a mediation. Professionals seek to help clients move toward resolution, but that becomes challenging when clients focus on “the attack.” Read More