Using a CDC Certified Divorce Coach®
What is Divorce Coaching?
The American Bar Association defines divorce coaching as:
“Divorce coaching is a flexible, goal-oriented process designed to support, motivate, and guide people going through divorce to help them make the best possible decisions for their future, based on their interests, needs, and concerns. Divorce coaches have different professional backgrounds and are selected based on the specific needs of the clients. For example, some divorce coaches are financial planners, mental health professionals, lawyers, or mediators who have experience dealing with divorcing clients.”
Why divorce coaching?
Shifting Perspectives- from the “story” of divorce to the “business” of divorce.
Many people overlook the impact emotions have on the divorce process and the importance of having the necessary professional support and the tools a divorce coach can offer. Getting divorced is an emotionally charged process that can be time-consuming, challenging, and overwhelming. It is not uncommon for people to experience emotional fatigue from contemplating the end of marriage, especially when there are children involved.
During this time, people find themselves plagued by intense feelings that are difficult to manage and can have a profound effect on their ability to think and act rationally. Being overwhelmed by these powerful emotions can lead to costly personal and financial mistakes in divorce, which have long-term consequences for all parties involved.
Divorce coaches prepare their clients, one step at a time, to turn the emotional side of divorce into the business of divorce. It is a time when many people experience a gap between where they are and where they want to be. With the guidance of a divorce coach, clients can work through fears and obstacles and develop a strategic roadmap for their divorce. With help preparing for the process, clients can also develop the skills necessary to negotiate and effectively communicate their needs, wants, and desires without being hijacked by their emotions. The goal of partnering with a divorce coach is to empower clients to show up as their best selves, navigate efficiently through the divorce process, gain insight, and create a life vision for themselves and their children based on specific intentions.
The divorce coach is a thinking partner who helps manage the challenges of divorce. Coaches are trained and skilled at asking the questions that are hard to focus on during the tumultuous divorce process and to provide continuity for the client from the very beginning and into the next chapter. The client now equipped with their answers to these questions is much better prepared to help their attorney or mediator understand what their needs are so that they can bring those priorities into the negotiations. The divorce coach helps the client in ways that are different from a Therapist, a Mediator, and an Attorney, but that complements their work in helping the client to make the best decisions for their future.
Shifting Perspectives- from your story of divorce to your next chapter…
Divorce coaches help their clients take charge of creating their new identity and avoid remaining stuck in their divorce story. In creating the next chapter, the client has an opportunity to become their best self by letting go of the hurts from the past and freeing themselves up to focus on their vision for their future.
