Painful partings

For those who have made the difficult decision to end their marriage, emotional divorce can be as difficult to achieve as legal divorce. This timely and compassionate book shows couples, their families, and their therapists how best to navigate the bumpy terrain of the road to divorce. The book covers emerging alternatives to litigation - like mediation, and looks at sensitive legal matters, such as physical and emotional abuse and child custody. It also examines timely issues like fathers' rights, mid-life divorce, and what happens when one partner exits a marriage in order to lead a homosexual lifestyle. Painful Partings shows marriage and family therapists how to help clients marshal their energies toward constructive closure, rather than destructive resolution. Essential reading for therapists who work with divorced and divorcing families, the book is also a compassionate guide for spouses and parents negotiating the painful process of divorce.