Addressing the significant loss that divorce represents for children, this caregiving companion makes it possible for adults to guide them through the natural grief that accompanies the experience. Contending that children can continue to thrive if they are shown the way, this sensitive guide provides 100 practical suggestions for supporting them. Aimed at assisting a wide range of adults, the methods presented are ideal not just for parents but for grandparents, teachers, day care workers, counselors, and even coaches who care for and about kids. Enabling grownups with down-to-earth tips, this handbook is essential for helping sons and daughters navigate the inevitable array of confusing thoughts and feelings.

Focusing on the natural grief children endure when their parents divorce, this guide helps kids process the common feelings of shock, sadness, anger, guilt, and relief while highlighting their most vital need—love and support. The handbook helps children name and understand these strange new emotions and affirms that their thoughts and feelings are natural while teaching them the value of constructively expressing them. An assortment of suggested physical and verbal activities for mourning grief are also included.

Divided into three parts, this book was written to foster healing for divorcing parents and to help divorcing couples support their children. Part one deals with interpersonal issues and individual growth. The reader is lead through the personal processes of divorce; actions parents can take to help themselves and their children adjust to the situation are highlighted. Some of the topics covered here include shared parenting, a child's perspective, repairing the damage, security and reassurance, domestic violence, difficult divorces, and redefining the family. Part two examines the legal system. It is hoped that by demystifying the legal process, divorce will become less frustrating and will afford the individual more choices. Some of the issues addressed here are legal issues in parenting, the mechanics of co-parenting, and finances and the reality of divorce. In part three, entitled "Medicine for the Heart," children share their experiences with divorce. Over 50 children were interviewed about their parents' divorce and how it affected them. They offer advice to parents about how to make divorce easier on other children. (RJM)

A compassionate resource for friends, parents, relatives, teachers, volunteers, and caregivers, this series offers suggestions to help the grieving cope with the loss of a loved one. Often people do not know what to say—or what not to say—to someone they know who is mourning; this series teaches that the most important thing a person can do is listen, have compassion, be there for support, and do something helpful. This volume addresses what to expect from grieving young people, and how to provide safe outlets for children to express emotion. Included in each book are tested, sensitive ideas for “carpe diem” actions that people can take right this minute—while still remaining supportive and honoring the mourner’s loss.

In You Can Heal Your Heart, self-help luminary Louise Hay and renowned grief and loss expert David Kessler, the protégé of Elisabeth Kübler-Ross, have come together to start a conversation on healing grief. This remarkable book discusses the emotions that occur when a relationship leaves you brokenhearted, a marriage ends in divorce, or a loved one dies. It will also foster awareness and compassion, providing you with the courage to face many other types of losses and challenges, such as saying good-bye to a beloved pet, losing your job, coming to terms with a life-threatening illness or disease, and much more. With a perfect blend of Louise’s teachings and affirmations on personal growth and transformation and David’s many years of working with those in grief, this empowering book will inspire an extraordinary new way of thinking, bringing hope and fresh insights into your life and even your current and future relationships. You will not only learn how to help heal your grief, but you will also discover that, yes, you can heal your heart.

CHILDREN OF DIVORCE CARRY WOUNDS INTO ADULTHOOD; Divorce affects our relationships to other people, our fears and longings, our faith and spirituality. We may have difficulties with anger, guilt, commitment or forgiveness. But our identity need not be marked only by our parents' divorce. God can enter into our woundedness and bring transformation and hope. Kristine Steakley chronicles the emotional and spiritual challenges facing adult children of divorce. She tells her own story of abandonment and estrangement, and wrestles through questions of trust, self-worth and identity. But she has found that God can repair and reparent us in ways that heal and restore our relationships with ourselves, our parents and God.

"When Will My Heart Stop Hurting?" is a healing and inspirational book about divorce intended to help a parent recover themselves and be as responsive as possible to his or her children during and after the upheaval of divorce. Brimming with pragmatic and sagacious advice about all aspects of the divorce experience, this easy-to-read compendium will help guide the reader to a more peaceful place with regard to divorce and enhance their ability to facilitate healing and growth in their children. "When Will My Heart Stop Hurting?" addresses particularly difficult topics around marital dissolution, custody, and subsequent changes in family life. Among the subjects this thoughtful and helpful book concentrates on are the following: the nature of divorce, difficult dilemmas in divorce, what it means to work together with your ex-spouse (even when it isn't easy), what you can do emotionally and psychologically for your child, and finding spiritual understanding in the aftermath of divorce. Here are a few sample selections: "A child ordinarily feels that his or her world is turned upside down in divorce. The heroic challenge for you as a parent is to help the world seem right side up again." "With every loss, there is a gain and new things of value are discovered. Teach your child that this paradox is even true of divorce." "Inspire your son or daughter to think of 'family' as a feeling inside of them, not merely a living situation."