How to Do Well in a Custody or Visitation Hearing In Virginia, when custody and/or visitation are in dispute, judges use known criteria to discern what will be best for a child. The factors they weigh include: the age and...
Ten More Co-Parenting Tips by Guest Author Elinor Robin, Ph.D., with a little editing by Virginia L Colin, Ph.D. one boy 11. Avoid using body language, facial expressions or other subtleties to express negative thoughts and emotions about the other...
Ten Co-Parenting Tips by Guest Author Elinor Robin, Ph.D. and Virginia L Colin, Ph.D. (mostly Elinor) 1. If you have not done so already, call a truce with your Ex. Divorced parents can succeed at co-parenting. To begin, a ceasefire...
Your Behavior, Your Kids, and Divorce by guest author Sharon Zarozny Sharon Zarozny Ask anyone who’s been through it, and they’ll tell you one of the most gut-wrenching aspects of separation and divorce is figuring out how to co-parent...
Divorced Parents Stay Connected Divorced parents may talk frequently. OK, yes, there are some deadbeat moms and dads who just drop out of their children’s lives. Fortunately for the children, these parents are in the minority. And to be fair...
Divorce With Children reaching toward the sky Recently an important member of my family died. So I am reminded of Kübler-Ross’s “stages” of grieving: denial, anger, bargaining, depression, and, eventually, acceptance. For example: Denial: “This isn’t happening. This can’t...
Opinions About Marriage, Children, and Divorce Recently I read many of the comments on a Huffington Post article about the new documentary film, Split, in which children describe and illustrate how their parents’ divorces affected them. The film is scheduled for release...
COVID-19 Note: Mediation services are also available online. The Children’s Bill of Rights in Divorce a path to divorce? by Guest Author Robert E. Emery, Ph.D. Divorced parents still must fulfill their responsibilities to their kids, and in my view,...
Discipline in Stepfamilies stepfamily This topic is challenging. If a stepparent gets off to a bad start with the stepchildren, he or she may never be able to recover. Sadly, this happened when I remarried. My husband and I each...
How to Help Kids Cope With a High-Conflict Parent by guest author Bill Eddy Rather than talking to the kids about a “high-conflict” co-parent (and you should never use that term around the children), talk about “four big skills for...