Divorce education is a way for the spouses to be able to take more responsibility for resolving their divorce related issues. Divorce is increasingly common these days, and families easily become dependent on the courts to settle matters involving child custody, visitation, child support, paternity, and emergency protective orders.
It is becoming increasingly common for the courts to require the parents to attend divorce education programs, which supply the parents with more information on the impact of divorce on children. The goal of these programs is to reduce the amount of conflict in a divorce that requires court intervention.
Divorce can cause a variety of problems for families. While parents may struggle to handle their own physical, social, and financial needs for the divorce, they also struggle to help their children cope with these matters. That is why many divorce educations focus on education parents on how to help their child positively adjust to the divorce.
Positive adjustment basically involves a child understanding the divorce while being largely free of signs and symptoms of mental illness, and being able to function normally while taking on their normal roles in the home, in their family, and in their social life. Essentially positive adjustment seeks to ensure the child can develop and independent identity that is not tied to marital status or the ex-spouse.
There has been research which shows that divorce education programs that involve the parents acquiring and mastering skills more effectively reduce conflict that involves court intervention, when compared with didactic formatted programs.
It has also been found that programs that include strength-based skills, rather than those that focus on weaknesses, can improve the adjustment of the children, parents, and the whole family.
Parents who are combative with their spouse or who stop communicating with their spouse are at risk for causing academic, social, or self-esteem problems for their child. Divorce education programs often revolve around the needs of the child, and educating parents on how their divorce affects the whole family.
These programs provide parents with tools that can help them interact more positively with their spouses, especially in matters that involve the children.
Divorce education classes usually focus on the following topics:
- The impact of family conflict on children
- How to build effective parenting plans
- Description of the developmental needs of children
- How to create new family relationships
- How to develop positive co-parenting
- How to prevent parent alienation syndrome
- How to maintain best interests of the child
There is a whole host of resources for divorce education. There are a lot of classes available online, as well as home study kits and teacher led divorce education programs. There is a great deal of research showing that divorce education has a largely positive impact on everyone involved with a divorce.
For more information on what kinds of programs are available and which one is right for you and your family, consult with your family law attorney.
