Children’s Divorce Counseling

Does your grade-schooler, teen, or young adult express anger or sadness about changes in your family? Has their mood and/or behavior changed? Are they acting out or becoming more quiet and shutdown? Have their peer interactions change? Are they feeling in trouble in school or feeling less motivated in doing their school work?

Despite your concerns about how these changes may be impacting your son or daughter, do you fear you don’t know how to talk to your child about divorce? Moreover, is your child unwilling to discuss their feelings about the situation with you or other adults in their lives? Are you worried that your child feels like they are in the middle of conflict between you and your spouse? Is there a lot of tension in your home that is difficult to talk about?

Have the family dynamics started to impact your child’s grades? Their social life? Has their conduct at school changed as a result of increased stress, worsened mood or new living conditions? Are you and your partner struggling with how and what to tell your child?

Have the logistics involved with having separated or divorced parents made keeping track of schedules, homework, school supplies, uniforms and favorite clothes frustrating for the whole family?

Divorce can impact family routine, schedule, communication and stability. Divorce or separation can also impact a child’s motivation and focus at school and may even impact their overall grades. Moving through this challenging life change can impact children from a social, emotional and behavioral perspective. If your child is experiencing any of the mentioned frustrations, mood changes or behavioral concerns, you may be wondering how to help them.

According to the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, about half marriages in the United States will end in divorce.

https://www.aacap.org/AACAP/Families_and_Youth/Facts_for_Families/FFF-Guide/Children-and-Divorce-001.aspx

Parents who are going through a divorce often worry most about how this change in circumstances and difficult time will affect their children. As parents are typically moving through their own grief, anger and changes, they often find it difficult to attend to their own needs as well as those of their children. Parents can also face feelings of guilt and shame during this time, and these feelings came make it difficult to be emotionally available to their children in the same manner as they typically are. Fortunately, divorce counseling for kids can provide the extra help your family needs during this difficult time.

Counseling for kids going through divorce provides them with an important opportunity to process the changes occurring around them in a safe, unbiased environment. Skilled clinicians can help in supporting your child through this process as they establish comfort with their new normal and adjust to evolved dynamics and relationships.

Active listening and opportunity for emotional processing by our counselors will allow for a therapeutic space for your child to move the changes in their lives in a healthy and supportive environment. Individual counseling will help your child to think about the separation or divorce through their own lens, without being distracted by the nuanced dynamics at play. A therapist can also help to create strategies and foster coping to keep your child on track at school.

A divorce or separation is a challenging obstacle for a child to overcome, however, with targeted support and guidance during their developing years, your child can development positive coping strategies for their future. Our therapists have experience working with children of all ages and their families in navigating the multi-faceted life changes that often occur as the result of divorce or separation.

We know how to talk to children about divorce in a way that is supportive and honest but also age-appropriate. When you give your child the emotional processing, coping skills and tools they need to succeed by enrolling them in children’s divorce counseling, you set the groundwork for a happier and more independent adult life. Divorce therapy for kids witnessing a separation can help them stop feeling like outcasts and build the confidence to participate more fully in their lives.

We offer divorce counseling for toddlers, young adults, and all ages in between. If you’re looking for a child therapist for divorce counseling in Manhattan near the Upper West Side, we offer a convenient location on West 74^th Street, near the American Museum of Natural History and many trains and bus lines. Contact us today for a free 10-minute phone consultation so we can discuss your child’s needs. One of our child therapists specializing in divorce can answer any questions you may have about our treatment center.

We offer individual therapy for grade school students, teens, and young adults. We also offer youth therapy groups to help your child acquire important social skills and parental counselling to teach you how to discuss divorce with your child.