072: Divorce from a Child's Perspective with Kimberly Ewertz (Divorce Series No. 2)

I know that for most couples, as they are navigating a divorce and separation, one of their biggest worries is the effect it will have on their children. Most modern research on divorce is showing that the negative effects on children can usually be attributed to the negative conflict in the years leading up to the divorce, rather than the divorce itself, and can actually be minimal when the couple divorces and then co-parents in a "healthy" way (see last week's episode for how!). We actually have very few accounts from the child's perspective on the effects of divorce and how to make it easier on kids. As parents committed to honoring children's emotions & experience, doesn't it just make sense then that we would seek to understand divorce from a child's perspective? So when an author reached out to me with a book filled with first-hand accounts of adults who reflect on their parent's divorce & guidance to parents navigating these waters, I knew I had to share them with you! And so for the second episode of the Divorce Series, we are going to focus on the child' experience. And to have this conversation, I'm bringing in a colleague, expert, and a former analyst, Kimberly Ewertz. After experiencing divorce, she witnessed the devastating effect it had on her child. She got support and with the help of a therapist realized that some of what she had been doing in an attempt to protect her son was actually making things worse. She very bravely details these mistakes and how she went about repairing with her son, and her insights and suggestions actually apply to ALL parent-child relationships! To learn more about a child's perspective on divorce, get Kim's book Family Redefined: Childhood Reflections on the Impact of Divorce. It's available on Amazon.com and her website www.familyredefinedbook.com. Her book has been nominated for several prestigious awards and won first place in the Midwest Book Awards for the non-fiction Family/Parenting category. And to be updated on Kim's work, follow her on Facebook @FamilyRedefinedBook. Find show notes for this episode here: www.laurafroyen.com/podcast

Om Podcasten

Parenting is often lived in the extremes. It’s either great joy or chaotic overwhelm. One moment you’re nailing it and the next you’re losing your cool. I want to help you find your way to the messy middle, to a place of balance. You see, balance is a verb, not a state of being. It is a thing you DO, not a thing you ARE. It’s an action, a process, a series of micro-corrections that we make, each and every day, to keep ourselves feeling centered. We are never truly balanced, we are engaged in the process of balancing.Hello, I’m Dr. Laura Froyen, and this is the Balancing Parenting Podcast, where overwhelmed, stressed-out, and disconnected parents go to find tools, mindset shifts, and practices to help them stop yelling at the people they love and start connecting all delivered with heaping doses of grace and compassion. Join me in conversations that will help you get clear on your goals and values and start showing up in your parenting, your relationships, YOUR LIFE, with open-hearted authenticity and balance.