When two parents choose to divorce, their children often are more than affected any other members of the family. Unfortunately, some parents choose to stay in unhealthy marriages instead of respectfully moving on because they fear that the divorce may leave their children with emotional baggage for the rest of their lives.
This is a reasonable fear, and one that grounded in a strong desire to keep children from unnecessary harm. However, keeping children in a family situation that is truly past its expiration date also presents a number of serious emotional and developmental dangers.
If you believe that it is time to end your marriage, but worry that the process of divorce may hurt your children, you may have more options than you realize to achieve the respectful divorce that you and your family need. Your family may benefit from consulting with an experienced attorney about divorce mediation.
Divorce mediation and children
Divorce mediation offers parents the tools to achieve the divorce they need without creating a needlessly adversarial atmosphere in the home. You and your spouse may find that you can reach fair agreements about all the issues you must address in order for a judge to approve your divorce, from property division to custody.
Unlike traditional litigated divorce, where two teams negotiate with each other to secure the best terms for each respective spouse, divorce mediation alters the format and the goal of your negotiation sessions significantly. Divorce mediation focus on spouses working together to reach fair agreements that allow both sides to compromise and also win.
While your children may still carry some emotional baggage forward with them, there is only so much that you can do to prevent this. What you can do, however, is make a civil, respectful divorce your priority.
You and your spouse have a greater opportunity than you may realize. You have the power to choose a respectful divorce that demonstrates to your children that being an adult is about how you respond to disappointing or difficult circumstances.
Divorce mediation provides unique opportunities for you to demonstrate healthy, conscious conflict resolution to your children, even if this is not something that you find very possible in your home.
A professional mediator helps both parents work toward common goals, giving you a framework for being fair to each other. Not only this, but mediators can help you reach legally binding agreements, removing the need to go to court, sometimes entirely.
Don’t hesitate to begin your respectful divorce journey
If you choose to wait until the right time, that time may never come. Do not wait to begin taking steps toward a new life and a fresh start. A professional divorce mediator can help you understand all the issues you must resolve to achieve the divorce you need and give you the freedom you need to move forward to a new season in life while protecting the children you love.