New Online Program Helps Keep Parenting Healthy in Divorce

September 09, 2010

When a couple divorces, it is often their children who suffer most. Children caught up in divorce can experience fear, anxiety, guilt and intense feelings of loss. Parents are frequently angry with each other and grappling with their own stress; feeling too overwhelmed to help their kids cope successfully with the implosion of the family.

The Register-Guard reports that new, locally produced online software can help fortify parenting skills in the emotional turmoil of divorce. Sixty-nine participants in an ongoing effort to gauge effectiveness are testing the interactive program, Two Families Now.

Honing Parenting Skills

Produced by Eugene's IRIS Educational Media, research-based Two Families Now features video lessons, interactive evaluations, exercises to hone parenting skills, podcasts, participant journals, an online discussion forum and more.

The aim of the software's designers is to help parents break destructive stress cycles, protect their kids when parental conflict arises, communicate more effectively, establish healthy routines, cope with transitions between two new households, and avoid emotional landmines that can harm both children and parents.

The Impact of Divorce on Kids

There is an enormous amount of research showing that divorce can have a long-lasting negative impact on the lives of children, in addition to the immediate stresses and strains it brings.

Children whose parents divorce are more likely to have more difficulties in school, more behavioral problems, more negative self-images, more problems with their peers, more problems with parents, and are more likely to eventually wind up divorced themselves.

Naturally, these negative effects are based on averages; not every child of divorce will experience any or all of these things. Much of it depends on how the divorce is handled between the parents, how the parents interact with their children during the divorce and perhaps most important, the health of the parent-child relationship before and after the divorce.

Two Families Now seeks to help parents reinforce and repeat positive behavior with practical skills while meeting any court-required parenting education requirements. Divorcing Lane County parents are currently required to complete the four-hour parent education class, Focus on Children.

An Important Tool in Divorce

Another tool for parents during a divorce is a compassionate, experienced divorce lawyer who helps them navigate not only the law, but also the many conflicting emotions faced by them and their children. If you face divorce, contact an Oregon family law attorney who understands the difficult conflicts of divorce, including child custody, division of parenting time, child support, spousal support and division of marital property.

Article provided by Jensen & Leiberan, P.C.
Visit us at www.jensen-leiberan.com