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| Introduction | |
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| How Am I Going to Get Through This? Dealing with Separation from a Parent's Perspective | |
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| The Defining Difference | |
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| The Relationship Between Stress and Parenting | |
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| How Your Stress Affects Your Children | |
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| Balancing Your Life | |
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| How to Support Yourself Through the Early Stages of Separation and Divorce | |
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| Self-Care Checkup | |
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| Take Action: Making Your Self Care a Priority | |
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| Understanding the Emotional Divorce | |
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| Dynamics of the Emotional Divorce | |
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| Divorce Involves Multiple Changes | |
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| Grieving Is Not Time Specific | |
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| Children Have Different Feelings and Perspectives | |
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| When Parents Are in Different Stages | |
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| Emotional Stages of Loss | |
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| Denial | |
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| Anger | |
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| Bargaining | |
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| Depression | |
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| Acceptance | |
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| Raising Your Level of Emotional Awareness | |
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| Till Death Do You Part… | |
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| Changing How You Think | |
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| Changing Your Relationship | |
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| Guidelines for Communicating with the Other Parent | |
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| Tips for E-Mails and Letters | |
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| Managing the Legal System | |
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| Understanding the Purpose of the Legal Process | |
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| Other Options Worth Knowing About | |
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| Parent Education Classes for Separated and Divorced Parents | |
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| Mediation | |
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| Collaborative Law | |
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| Parent Coordination | |
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| Three Fundamental Principle for Managing the Legal Aspects of Divorce | |
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| Walking the Walk: Pitfalls to Avoid | |
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| Do's and Don'ts | |
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| Don't Ignore or Mismanage Your Feelings | |
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| Do Pay Attention to Your Feelings | |
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| Don't Assume You Know How Your Children Are Feeling | |
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| Do Practice Listening to Your Children | |
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| Don't Allow Your Children to Become Emotionally Responsible for You | |
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| Do Create a Supportive Network for Both You and Your Children | |
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| Don't Let Your Divorce Take Over Your Life | |
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| Do Make Good Choices About How You Spend Your Energy | |
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| Don't Expect to Get What You Never Got | |
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| Do Change Your Expectations | |
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| How Children Are Affected by Divorce | |
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| Factors That Affect How Children Handle Divorce | |
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| Factors That Affect How Children Manage and Adjust to Divorce | |
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| Emotional Stages of Loss for Children | |
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| Denial | |
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| Anger | |
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| Bargaining | |
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| Depression | |
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| Acceptance | |
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| Infants (Newborn to 18 Months) | |
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| Developmental Issues for Infants | |
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| Bonding | |
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| Quality Time and Quantity Time | |
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| Managing Your Baby's Stress | |
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| What Your Infant Needs | |
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| Ideas for Parenting Your Infant | |
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| Toddlers (18 Months to 2 Years) | |
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| Developmental Issues for Toddlers | |
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| Feelings of Security | |
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| Anxiety over New Experiences | |
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| Acting Out Feelings | |
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| Ideas for Parenting Your Toddler | |
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| Preschoolers (3 to 5 Years) | |
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| Developmental Issues for Preschoolers | |
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| Image of Self | |
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| Regression | |
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| Feelings of Responsibility | |
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| Acting Out | |
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| Ideas for Parenting Your Preschooler | |
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| Primary Schoolers (6 to 9 Years) | |
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| Developmental Issues for Primary School Children | |
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| Self-Esteem | |
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| Developing Skills and Talents | |
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| Greater Sense of Sadness | |
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| Ideas for Parenting Your Primary School Child | |
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| Preteens (9 to 12 Years) | |
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| Developmental Issues for Preteens | |
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| Changes in Thinking | |
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| Physical Changes | |
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| Emotional Changes | |
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| Ideas for Parenting Your Preteen | |
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| Teenagers (13 to 18 Years) | |
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| Developmental Issues for Teens | |
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| Role Confusion | |
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| New Experiences | |
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| Risk Taking | |
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| Ideas for Parenting Your Teen | |
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| A Guide to the Most Common Problems and Issues for Divorced or Separated Parents | |
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| How to Tell Your Children You Are Getting a Divorce | |
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| Why You Need to Talk to Your Children | |
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| When Is the Best Time? | |
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| How to Talk About Divorce | |
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| One Parent or Two? | |
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| If You Can't Agree About What Will Be Said | |
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| Age-Specific Conversation | |
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| A Parent's Checklist | |
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| If You Say the Wrong Thing | |
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| What to Do When Children Ask Why | |
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| The Hard Questions | |
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| So Whose Fault Is It? | |
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| Why Do Your Children Need to Talk About Why More Than Once? | |
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| How Much Information Is Enough? | |
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| If One Parent Wants to Stay in the Marriage | |
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| When a Parent Has Made Bad Choices | |
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| Tips for Answering Why | |
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| Telling Children the Truth | |
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| Supporting the Other Parent's Relationship with Your Children | |
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| Why Does Your Opinion About the Other Parent Matter? | |
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| Not-So-Obvious Ways Parents Can Devalue Each Other | |
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| What Can You Do to Support Your Children's Relationship with Your Ex? | |
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| Rejecting the Term Visitation | |
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| Approach Decision Making and Information Sharing as if You Were Still Married | |
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| Don't Undermine the Other Parent's Authority, Even When You Don't See Eye to Eye | |
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| Positively Support Your Children's Time with the Other Parent | |
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| Two-Home Concept and What Helps Children | |
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| Why Do Children Need Two Homes? | |
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| How to Help Children Adjust to Life in Two Homes | |
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| Ditch the Suitcase | |
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| Make Sure Children Have Space in Each Home | |
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| Change How You Talk About Each Home | |
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| Allow Different to Be Different | |
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| Make Your Rules and Expectations Clear | |
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| Give Children Calendars | |
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| Transition Rituals | |
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| Tips for Managing Activities Out of Two Homes | |
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| Creating a Schedule and Agreement That Works for Your Children | |
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| Finding Common Ground, Developing a Guiding Principle | |
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| Factors to Consider and Questions to Ask When Creating a Parenting Plan | |
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| Tips for Creating a Successful Parenting Plan | |
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| What Is Joint Custody? | |
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| What Is a 50-50 Time Split and Will It Work for Your Children? | |
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| Nesting | |
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| Sharing One Home After You Have Filed for Divorce | |
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| Parenting Pointers for On-Duty and Off-Duty Parents | |
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| Avoiding Court-Based Language | |
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| How You View Each Other's Roles | |
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| On-Duty and Off-Duty Parenting | |
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| Guidelines for On-Duty Parents | |
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| Guidelines for Off-Duty Parents | |
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| Long-distance Parenting | |
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| Financial Issues: What Do Kids Need to Know? | |
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| What Do Children Need to Know About Money and Divorce? | |
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| When There Are Significant Financial Differences Between Households | |
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| Dealing with a Difficult Ex | |
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| High-Conflict Situations | |
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| When Both Parents Are Committed to the Conflict | |
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| When One Parent Is Invested in the Conflict | |
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| When Your Ex Doesn't Think They're Part of the Problem | |
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| Dealing with an Uncooperative Ex: Taking Higher Ground | |
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| First Step in Managing the Conflict | |
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| Tips for Dealing with a Difficult Ex | |
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| Less-Than-Ideal Situations | |
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| Staying Safe: Dealing with Domestic Violence, Addictions, and Divorce | |
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| How to Help Children Manage Less-Than-Ideal Situations | |
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| Talking to Your Children about Less-Than-Ideal Situations | |
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| Alienation: What It Is and How to Respond | |
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| What Is Parent Alienation? | |
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| How Do You Know if Your Child Is Alienated? | |
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| Hostile Aggressive Parenting | |
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| Misconceptions About Alienation | |
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| What Can Parents Do? | |
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| How to Help Children Deal with Feelings and Be a Good Listener | |
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| Why Is Listening So Hard? | |
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| Qualities of Being a Good Listener | |
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| Tips for Being a Better Listener | |
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| If You Have a Child Who Doesn't Want to Talk | |
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| How to Handle Things When Your Child Is Angry | |
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| Children's Sense of Security and How They Express Anger | |
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| Different Ways Children Manage Their Anger | |
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| Young Children | |
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| Preadolescents and Teens | |
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| Silent Anger | |
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| Six Steps to Helping Children Handle Anger | |
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| Points About Anger for Parents | |
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| What to Do When Your Child Is Sad | |
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| Depression and Children: How to Recognize It | |
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| When You Feel Sad, Too | |
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| Healthy Ways to Express Sadness | |
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| When to Get Help for Children | |
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| Assessing Your Concerns | |
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| Situations That Warrant an Immediate Response | |
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| Types of Professionals | |
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| Initial Appointments | |
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| Possible Stumbling Blocks | |
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| When Your Child Doesn't Want to Go to Counseling | |
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| When the Other Parent Doesn't Think There's a Problem and Won't Support Getting Help | |
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| When Children Hear Bad Things About One of Their Parents | |
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| What Is Badmouthing and How Does It Affect Children? | |
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| Ways Parents Engage in Badmouthing | |
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| What Can You Do if You Are the One Doing the Badmouthing? | |
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| What if the Other Parent Is Badmouthing You? | |
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| What to Do When Children Are Exposed to Badmouthing | |
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| Help Children Learn How to Cope with the Problem | |
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| When Badmouthing Backfires | |
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| Moving on from Divorce | |
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| Going from We to Me: Being Single and Redefining Your Family | |
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| Beginning Stages: Adjusting to Being Single | |
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| Tips for Successful Single Parenting | |
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| Dating, New Relationships, and Kids | |
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| When to Introduce Your Children to Someone You Are Dating | |
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| When the Other Parent Introduces Your Child to Someone He or She Is Dating | |
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| Before You Say I Do Again: Second Marriages, Being a Bonus Parent and Blended Families | |
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| Before You Say I Do | |
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| Tips for a Successful Second Marriage | |
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| Points for Merging Families | |
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| Guidelines for Bonus Parents | |
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| If Your Child Gets a New Bonus Parent | |
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| Resources for Children | |
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| Resources for Parents | |
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| Resources for Life After Divorce | |
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| Tools for Communicating Between Homes | |
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| Resources for Managing Legal Processes | |
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| Resources for Parent Alienation | |
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| Resources for Domestic Violence, Abuse, or Addiction | |