Divorce & Separation
Life has been turned upside-down. You can see that your child is dealing with changes to their home through divorce or separation. You can see that they are struggling, but it can be hard to empathize. Life was chaotic and hard for you before the change, now you feel like a weight is off your shoulders. How can you support your child when you feel a sense of relief or are burdened by your own grief?
It feels like children are dealing with more changes in their home life than ever before. Sometimes their caregiver is unhealthy due to their addiction and cannot safely be in your child's life. Other times we have chosen to no-longer hold an unhealthy relationship together and separating or divorcing makes the most sense. But when you look at your child, grieving their old life, it can be tough.
How do you explain divorce, separation, addiction, co-dependence, domestic violence to a child or teen? Those conversations can be hard to imagine, yet they are essential for a healthy future.
You wake up in the night with nightmares of your child heading down the wrong path. Worried about them picking up addictive or scary behaviors. Or even getting in an unhealthy relationship. Sometimes you even worry you might go down the wrong path and take your child with you. Replaying those nightmares over and over, you feel like there's no hope for a healthy future for your child or family.
You work hard to make sure that your child has stability, routine, love, but you worry that it's not enough. That your child is floundering since the change. You know that they are susceptible to bullying, bad influences from peers and at a greater risk of school failure. It worries you to see the possibility that a mental health issue might be sparked.
What if your child could receive support and guidance in a safe, fun environment? Where they can feel heard and understood? Where their worries would be coupled with skills to manage out of control thoughts or feelings?
Image a healthy future for you and your family. Where co-parenting and polite conversation might work. Where your child could be introduced to healthy relationships, communication and stress management skills they will use for a lifetime. Where they can be supported through change to increase the chances of preventing addiction, co-dependence and mental health issues in their future.
Change is hard, but with support, it can be productive. Families that are able to weather the storm of divorce or separation through building better relationships have a more successful future. When children are given honest, age appropriate information on substance abuse and addiction, co-dependence and domestic violence, we have a chance to break the cycle and ensure a healthier future.
At Berger Counseling Services, we have the experience and training to know how to talk with your child about difficult situations like divorce, separation, addiction, co-dependence and domestic violence. We walk families through those conversations, providing detailed, age appropriate scripts so the whole family can heal. We also work as intermediaries between caregivers who desperately want to be good parents but struggle with their past history together. We bridge the divide between caregivers and align them together in support of building a healthy future for their children.
Families often benefit from support instead of therapy services. At Berger Counseling Services, we strive to offer the most effective, shortest route towards completing goals. Our Parenting or Family Support Sessions are targeted on addressing a specific skill, issue or situation. By providing a supportive atmosphere to growth, parents or families can identify a need and make changes quickly.
We know change can be difficult, for adults and children, so we incorporate art, play, games, sandtray and horses into our services. By working together on a common goal we knock down some of the walls we put up between us and healthy communication. We know that children do better with supportive adults in their lives. You can read about how family work helps grow the relationship in our blog, Fix My Kid!
Let's meet for a complimentary 15 minute consultation. Together, we can decide if we are the right fit to help support your family. Give us a call 561-866-3056.
