Blast From The Past: Dealing with the Holidays if You Are in Divorce Transition [2022]

college girl sitting on leaves in yard with hands raised

Going through a divoce transition? Tips for the holidays

PUBLISHER’S NOTE: Donna F. Ferber, LPC, LADC is a psychotherapist in private practice since 1986 in Farmington, Connecticut. She is a licensed professional counselor, a licensed alcohol and drug abuse counselor and an educator. In her private practice, Donna specializes in issues related to life transitions. These include but are not limited to divorce, remarriage, chronic illness, loss, relocation. Donna has been a guest contributor to the Ohio Family Law Blog since 2010. We have enjoyed collaborating on several articles over the years.

Make The Holiday Season One That Is Meaningful

holidays divorce transitionEvery major life event, whether joyful or sad, brings on a period of transition as we adjust to the “new normal.” Even though these periods of transition occur throughout our lives, each requires us to discover a new and unique path as we struggle to move through uncharted waters. The death of a loved one, a divorce, a family estrangement, an illness, or sudden unemployment are some of the changes that shake us to our core. We are challenged in ways we could not imagine.

And in the midst of all this upheaval, the leaves  are beginning to turn and … Read More... “Blast From The Past: Dealing with the Holidays if You Are in Divorce Transition [2022]”

10 Happy-Life, Motivational Quotes To Help You Move On After Divorce

happy life divorce motivational quotes

Sources of Encouragement: Happy life, motivational quotes that can Empower your Heart and Mind.

happy life divorce motivational quotesEvery now and then, when you’re down in the trenches of ugly emotions, a good dose of happy-life, motivational quotes is in order. Sure, it can seem a little sappy. But there’s good reason these positive musings still make the rounds.

So, if you’re facing the long road ahead after a divorce>, take a little encouragement from these wordsmiths.

Here are 10 happy life, motivational quotes to help you move on with a positive outlook after divorce:

  1. It always gets worse before it can get better. But it will get better. Like everything else, and like our past struggles, at some point we win, but before that win, there’s always that loss that spurs us on.

    – Dolores Huerta

    What a beautiful, pensive place to start. A reality check coupled with an assurance of hope. Surely the intensity of pain, grief, and adjustment can be managed when there is light beckoning you to the other side of loss. You can, of course, focus on the loss. Or you can focus on the hope and use the energy of the loss to propel you forward.

… Read More... “10 Happy-Life, Motivational Quotes To Help You Move On After Divorce”

Blast From The Past: Don’t Create Halloween Horrors for your Child! [2022]

halloween divorce

PUBLISHERS NOTE: “Halloween can be very tricky for divorced parents. Here is some great advice from Psychotherapist Donna Ferber from way back in 2010 and 2018. If you enjoy this article, you would love her book, “From Ex-Wife to Exceptional Life: A Woman’s Journey Through Divorce” available on Amazon and Kindle. Also, check out her website, www.DonnaFerber.com.”

Make Your Child’s Halloween A Positive Experience Post Divorce

halloween divorceFor many kids, Halloween is one of the most important holidays of the year. The child of divorce is faced with choices and concerns. Who will take me treat-or-treating? Who will get my costume and dress me? Where will I trick-or-treat?

Then, of course, there logistical problems for the divorced parents. By addressing these issues in advance, parents can reduce stress and not distract from the child’s positive experience. These include:

  • In two-parent homes, often one parent gives out candy while the other parent takes the child trick-or-treating. Now there is only one parent in the home. Do you stay and give out candy or do you go with your child?
  • Parents often do not specify in their divorce decree who “gets” the child on October 31. If it falls on a visitation
… Read More... “Blast From The Past: Don’t Create Halloween Horrors for your Child! [2022]”

September is Suicide Prevention Awareness Month

suicide prevention awareness

Suicide Prevention – Seek Help With These Supportive Resources

suicide prevention awarenessSeptember is Suicide Prevention Awareness Month — a time to raise awareness of this stigmatized, and often taboo, topic. It is hoped that this initiative will help to shift public perception, spread hope and share vital information to people affected by suicide. The goal of the various suicide prevention organizations is ensuring that individuals, friends and families have access to the resources they need to discuss suicide prevention and to seek help.

Here are some alarming statistics:

Individual Impact:

  • 79% of all people who die by suicide are male.
  • Although more women than men attempt suicide, men are 4x more likely to die by suicide.
  • Suicide is the 2nd leading cause of death among people aged 10–14 and the 3rd leading cause of death among people aged 15-24 in the U.S.
  • Suicide is the 12th leading cause of death overall in the U.S.
  • 46% of people who die by suicide had a diagnosed mental health condition – but research shows that 90% may have experienced symptoms of a mental health condition.

Community Impact:

  • Annual prevalence of serious thoughts of suicide, by U.S. demographic group:
… Read More... “September is Suicide Prevention Awareness Month”

How To Fix A Miserable Marriage

fix miserable marriage divorce

Before You Can Fix A Broken Marriage Learn What Needs To Be Fixed!

fix miserable marriage divorceYou take your vows anticipating the good, the hopeful, the uncomfortable-but-not-insurmountable conflicts. What you don’t anticipate is struggling to figure out how to fix a miserable marriage. And yet, sometimes it’s a slippery slope from happy to just-a-shift-in-priorities to growing apart to unhappy…to miserable.

Would you even know the 12 signs of a bad marriage without reading about them or learning about them in therapy? Granted, there is an infinite spectrum of subjectively interpreted happiness and unhappiness. And what’s happy/unhappy for one person/couple may not be so for another. But, if you’re going to learn how to fix a miserable marriage, you need to first recognize the signs of issues you want to “fix.”

Do you know what’s making you miserable?

Have you and your spouse stopped talking? Do you fight all the time? Or have you stopped fighting altogether?

Has sex become a thing of the past or even something withheld as retribution or an expression of contempt?

Has one of you had sexual indiscretion or begun to push the limits of an emotional affair?

Is there verbal, emotional, or even physical abuse?

(As … Read More... “How To Fix A Miserable Marriage”

What To Do If Your Life Is A Mess After Divorce

mess after divorce

Mess After Divorce: It’s possible for you to love your life again.

mess after divorceIt’s a tricky, devious, exhausting struggle, this whole getting-over-a-relationship thing. And if you have been married, you know there is a lot more at stake than just a romantic hit-and-run. Marriage means you were vested in something bigger than just “two people in love.” So, if your life is a mess after divorce, it’s no wonder.

Think about what it’s like to pack up and move from a house you have lived in for 10, 20, 30 years. Now imagine the task as an effort to downsize.

Everything that was once neatly in its place (on cleaning day, anyway) is now…well…everywhere. Essentials, non-essentials, mementos, family heirlooms, favorites-for-no-good-reason. It’s all unearthed, waiting for a decision to be made on its destiny.

Your home is a mess. Your life is a mess. After divorce, this metaphor comes to life in every area of your existence. You don’t feel as if you are “just moving” (or that they are just moving) — you feel as if you have been foreclosed on.

Mess After Divorce: You have to move out of and move into. You have to divide, negotiate, relinquish.

You … Read More... “What To Do If Your Life Is A Mess After Divorce”

June is Men’s Health Month – Don’t Forget to Take Care of Your Health During a Divorce!

men's health month divorce

Should You Make Your Health A Priority After A Difficult Divorce?

Men's Health Month divorceDid you know that June is Men’s Health Month? During a difficult separation and divorce, men often do not make their health a priority, however they should. Here are some ideas on how to do that.

Be sure to get enough exercise. It doesn’t mean you have to take out an expensive gym membership. If you do have a gym membership and enjoy it, by all means go. If the gym isn’t your thing there are lots of ways to incorporate exercise into you daily routine. Playing with your kids at the park, going for a walk, doing jumping jacks or push ups, taking the stairs instead of the elevator are just some simple ways to incorporate exercise. Any type of movement will help both your body and mind. Just get moving!

Definitely pay attention to what you are eating. It is easy to resort to fast food because you are busy and it is quick, but try to limit how often you do this. Be mindful of what you are eating, and try not to eat to attempt to relieve stress or frustration which can be at … Read More... “June is Men’s Health Month – Don’t Forget to Take Care of Your Health During a Divorce!”

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