The Truth About Children and Divorce

Book excerpt: Nationally recognized expert Robert Emery applies his twenty-five years of experience as a researcher, therapist, and mediator to offer parents a new road map to divorce. Dr. Emery shows how our powerful emotions and the way we handle them shape how we divorce—and whether our children suffer or thrive in the long run. His message is hopeful, yet realistic—divorce is invariably painful, but parents can help promote their children’s resilience. With compassion and authority, Dr. Emery explains: • Why it is so hard to really make divorce work • How anger and fighting can keep people from really separating • Why legal matters should be one of the last tasks • Why parental love—and limit setting—can be the best “therapy” for kids • How to talk to children, create workable parenting schedules, and more