A separation or divorce is one of life’s most challenging transitions. The loss of a significant relationship can cause distress and grief.
Most people move through different emotional stages and may experience feelings of sadness, anger, denial, bargaining and eventually acceptance.
During this life transition, individuals should seek professional support like separation and divorce counselling (also referred to as separation therapy or divorce therapy). It is important to have a safe space to process all the different emotions that one may feel when facing the dissolution of a marriage or common law relationship.
Getting help makes things easier for individuals, couples, or families to navigate the emotional complexities of this major life transition.
This specific type of counselling provides families with strategies and skills to help cope with conflict and disputes during the process. A separation and divorce therapist also helps individuals maintain their mental health by managing stress, anxiety, grief and other intense emotions.
At Toronto Family Therapy, we offer the following counselling services:
Move beyond the separation towards acceptance
Learn strategies to cope with this challenging process – Contact us today
Is Separation and Divorce Counselling Right for Me?
Separation and Divorce therapy can involve individuals, couples or even entire families.
Individual Therapy for Separation and Divorce
Individual counselling can help a client process how they are feeling, cope with strong emotions, sort through important decisions and explore different options. When an individual seeks counselling to address their struggles around separation and divorce, they reduce the risk of developing depression and other mental health issues. It is crucial for anyone going through this stressful time to prioritize their physical and mental health.
During therapy, individuals can establish goals that they would like to achieve to rebuild and create the next chapter in their life. For many, divorce can be a painful experience, but with counselling and support, many clients recognize that this stressful experience can be temporary and they can begin to look forward to the next chapter. Therapy can help individuals move forward and achieve more fulfilled, happier and secure relationships with new partners, their children and even their ex-partner.
Couples/Co-parenting Counselling for Separation and Divorce
If you have children and are going through a separation and divorce, participating in therapy jointly with your ex-partner can help reduce the conflict and improve communication. It is particularly helpful to participate in counselling at the onset of a separation.
This can help clients be in charge of their own separation and divorce, navigate their own pathway and come up with solutions. Counselling often reduces the needs to involve lawyers and reduces litigation. It can also be cost effective and the outcome can be a healthier separation and divorce.
Family Counselling for Separation and Divorce
Family Counselling can be beneficial during this time. This is a safe space, where parents can explain their decision of separation and divorce to their children. It can help the entire family adjust to the changes ahead.
Every family member, including children of all ages, should have a voice in such a significant family change. The entire family can support each other during this time if they get the appropriate guidance from a skilled therapist.
“Separation and Divorce Counseling helps individuals go through this emotionally challenging process with care so they can start thinking about their family unit in a new way and move forward.”
Common Challenges in Separation and Divorce
When marriages end suddenly, individuals, couples, children and families will face emotional and practical challenges. The emotional challenges of separation and divorce could include:
- Managing negative emotions such as fear, anxiety, depression, grief, guilt, anger or denial for all family members
- Experiencing fatigue from stress, worry, or physical strain
- Facing the uncertain future and financial costs
- Assisting children in navigating their own emotions and mental health concerns
- Adjusting to a new lifestyle, social changes, or future relationships
This major life transition may also come with several practical obstacles or challenges. Support provided during separation and divorce therapy also helps families and individuals navigate these obstacles:
- The financial cost of divorce or separation
- Organizing their lives to prepare for the financial and parenting changes
- The legal process involved in separation and divorce
- Education around dispute resolution options
- Age appropriate parenting schedules and arrangements
- Co-parenting and communication
- Adapting to new partners and blended families
The Benefits of Counselling During Separation and Divorce
Divorce and separation are major life transitions, and it is important to treat them as such. Separation therapy is an effective tool in facilitating this transition in a healthy way and making collaborative divorce possible. When done effectively, this type of counselling helps promote personal growth for all parties involved and creates support for those navigating co-parenting.
Families, couples, or individuals, experience several positive outcomes with the support of separation and divorce therapy.
Most importantly, those who undergo this type of therapy learn strategies and coping mechanisms for handling different parts of the transition like communication, emotional healing, parenting, or moving forward toward acceptance.
Navigating Co-Parenting and Family Dynamics
More and more children grow up in families with separated parents. These children often have two homes and follow a parenting schedule. It is important for parents to keep the emotional well-being of the children at the forefront of all their decisions. Parents are faced with making important decisions about their children when they decide to separate and divorce.
Parents need to learn how to be cooperative, maintain effective communication and control their emotions. Separation or divorce involves new parenting arrangements to which children must adjust. Parenting plans should evolve overtime, because children change and life changes. All in all, a separation will change the overall family dynamic.
With professional family and separation counselling services, individuals are able to maintain more positive communication with their ex-partners and other family members for the benefit of the children. This may involve discussing different parenting arrangements, such as living arrangements, activities, summer plans, holidays and discipline for the children. Beyond allocating time for parents with their children, parenting plans outline details for major decision-making, day-to-day schedules for the children, and guidelines for modifying the agreement as children grow.
By putting these plans in place, parents put the children and their emotional well-being first and create a healthier environment through more positive communication.
Separation and Divorce Counselling in Toronto
Our separation and divorce counselling services at Toronto Family Therapy are designed to help families navigate one of life’s toughest transitions in healthy and effective ways.
For those seeking assistance with divorce therapy or separation counselling, Toronto Family Therapy is here to help with a team of educated and highly trained therapists with diverse backgrounds in family counselling and social work.
Divorce and separation can bring about many negative emotions.
A divorce counselling plan will help you and your loved ones navigate these emotions while building strategies for resilience, communication, and coping. At Toronto Family Therapy, we take great care in ensuring children’s voices are heard, and that parents maintain a healthy environment for children during a separation.
Contact Toronto Family Therapy & Mediation, Inc. for comprehensive family, divorce, and separation counselling. Our services include ways to assist individuals, the family as a whole, and the well-being of any children.
Joanna Seidel (MSW, ACC.Fm), the founder of Toronto Family Therapy, has particular expertise in the area of separation and divorce.
She has worked extensively in her practice with families and children, helping them manage the often difficult, stressful and emotional process of separation /divorce. With Joanna’s guidance, families learn strategies to cope with this challenging process and to minimize the conflicts and disputes that arise. They also learn to think about their family unit in a new way and in doing so, they can ultimately move beyond the separation/divorce towards acceptance.
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