Making Divorce Work

Eight essential keys to resolving conflict and rebuilding your life. This unique and empowering guide gives divorcing couples the skills to manage their divorce successfully, handle the legal and emotional issues harmoniously, and redefine and preserve the positive elements of their relationship. Informed by eight mediation concepts developed and used by the authors in their practice, the process outlined in this book will allow divorcing couples to deal rationally with the issues rather than allowing fear, anger, and grief to dictate their actions. Making Divorce Work leads couples to experience divorce as a celebration of the end of a relationship that served them well and provides the tools to deal with virtually every aspect of divorce-from money and custody to grieving and pain-to be proud of the way they handled their divorce and to start their new lives from a better place. Watch a Video

An hilarious spoof self-help book from the star of Marion & Geoff and host of the hit BBC comedy The Keith Barret Show.

By the end of World War I, the skyrocketing divorce rate in the United States had generated a deep-seated anxiety about marriage. This fear drove middle-class couples to seek advice, both professional and popular, in order to strengthen their relationships. In Making Marriage Work, historian Kristin Celello offers an insightful and wide-ranging account of marriage and divorce in America in the twentieth century, focusing on the development of the idea of marriage as "work." Throughout, Celello illuminates the interaction of marriage and divorce over the century and reveals how the idea that marriage requires work became part of Americans' collective consciousness.

Seventy now-adult children of divorce give their candid and often heart-wrenching answers to eight questions (arranged in eight chapters, by question), including: What were the main effects of your parents' divorce on your life? What do you say to those who claim that "children are resilient" and "children are happy when their parents are happy"? What would you like to tell your parents then and now? What do you want adults in our culture to know about divorce? What role has your faith played in your healing? Their simple and poignant responses are difficult to read and yet not without hope. Most of the contributors--women and men, young and old, single and married--have never spoken of the pain and consequences of their parents' divorce until now. They have often never been asked, and they believe that no one really wants to know. Despite vastly different circumstances and details, the similarities in their testimonies are striking; as the reader will discover, the death of a child's family impacts the human heart in universal ways.

A step-by-step approach to making your marriage loving again.

It's never too late to have a good divorce Based on two decades of groundbreaking research, The Good Divorce presents the surprising finding that in more than fifty percent of divorces couples end their marriages, yet preserve their families. Dr. Ahrons shows couples how they can move beyond the confusing, even terrifying early stages of breakup and learn to deal with the transition from a nuclear to a "binuclear" family--one that spans two households and continues to meet the needs of children. The Good Divorce makes an important contribution to the ongoing "family values" debate by dispelling the myth that divorce inevitability leaves emotionally troubles children in its wake. It is a powerful tonic for the millions of divorcing and long-divorces parents who are tired of hearing only the damage reports. It will make us change the way we think about divorce and the way we divorce, reconfirming our commitment to children and families.

When an adult child's marriage ends, lots of folks are hurt. The divorcing couple, of course, and their children. Until now, however, little attention has been paid to the parents of the divorcees. Temlock's examination of this sensitive topic offers parents a friendly guidebook packed with helpful information and suggestions from parents who've "been there." Her five-stage model of the divorce process for parents (Accepting the News, Rescuing Your Child, Responding to Changes, Stabilizing the Family, Refocusing and Rebuilding) will help readers stay grounded through the emotional upheavals they'll share with their children and grandchildren. This practical manual puts an arm around the shoulder of parents of divorcing adults and supports them through the difficult days of the divorce process and its aftermath.

“Solid advice for newlyweds, golden anniversary celebrants and everybody in-between” from the Marriage Boot Camp and former Divorce Court star (The Augusta Chronicle). As the judge starring on two hit television shows, Lynn Toler has witnessed, en masse, the thematic mistakes made in American marriages. She herself has also been wed for more than 30 years and has seen both the highs and lows of matrimony in her own marriage as well as the marriages of those close to her. Drawing from both her professional career and personal life, Toler sees that the biggest impediment to marriage these days is that couples decide to take the plunge based almost entirely on the most irrational criteria: falling in love. Making Marriage Work doesn’t suggest that love has nothing to do with marriage at all; rather, Toler says that love by itself is simply not enough to make marriages survive. Marriage, Toler says, is a job, and it needs to be treated like one. This updated manual suggests specific procedures that should be put in place to bridge the gap between head over heels and happily ever after. It explains how to phrase things in order to span the great hormonal divide men and women often fall into when trying to talk to one another. It also discusses the very new and real challenges to marriage created in a culture often overwhelmed by the emphasis on (and ability to attain) instant gratification. Replete with simple, no-nonsense rules, Divorce Court anecdotes, and stories about Judge Toler’s own union, Making Marriage Work contains invaluable information couples can use today to secure their marital tomorrow.