How Does Divorce Affect Your children?

It is well-documented how divorce emotionally affects children in today’s world. It’s also widely known that the emotional stress of divorce is similar to the stress of losing a close family member.

But with the right support system, a child can begin moving forward and working towards emotional calm about their parents’ divorce.

When you choose the collaborative divorce process to dissolve your marriage, you, your spouse and your children will have available the support of a mental health expert, a divorce coach and a child life specialist. All of these professionals specialize in dealing with the ups and downs of emotions divorce often brings to the table.

Often partners will share with us how their divorce impacts their family. This can be seen in various ways in children:

• Increased anger towards parents
• Changes in sleep or appetite
• Withdrawal from friends or family
• Unwillingness to go with the other parent
• Defiance
• Acting out

While experts agree that children are resilient, they are still very vulnerable to the effects of divorce. But when children have the opportunity to share their feelings with a mental health expert, they are often able to begin the healing process sooner.

For this to happen, there are several steps parents can take to help the process along:

• Learn through a divorce coach how to co-parent effectively
• Stop talking about your partner in a negative way to your child
• Don’t ask the child to take sides
• Avoid parent alienation
• Work out in the divorce agreement how certain situations and other possible events are handed – it will reduce the stress when it occurs.

When you utilize the Los Angeles Collaborative Family Law Association experts, you can reduce your anxiety and stress because you will know that when your divorce is finalized, each party involved, including your children, will have the tools necessary to move forward to a happier future.

Call us today if you would like to learn more about how our members at the Los Angeles Collaborative Family Law Association can help your family through divorce.

Note: This information is general in nature and should not be construed as legal/financial/tax/or mental health advice. You should work with your attorney, financial, mental health or tax professional to determine what will work best for your situation.