“I’m not like them” 
 
That’s the thought that many people have when they are going through a divorce. It’s particularly true if no one among your family, close friends, or neighbors have been divorced.  You may know that 50% of marriages end in divorce but it still feels lonely if you don’t seem to know any of them. And it may be difficult to meet other divorced people if you feel ashamed that your marriage failed. You can become isolated and depressed which can make the transition from being married to being divorced much more difficult than it has to be. Remedies for shame and the resulting loneliness may be within reach.
 
First, recognize that just because your marriage failed, you aren’t a failure. And, conversely, just because someone is married doesn’t mean they are a success. In fact, I would argue that getting divorced takes a tremendous amount of strength. It is not an easy process. Many choose not to do it and remain in marriages that are basically not functioning. Does that make them successful? No, it’s a lot more complicated than that. But clearly being divorced does not equate to being a failure.  In many ways, it actually shows your strength.
 
Recognizing your strength is important to combat feelings of shame. You can then have the confidence to reach out to others to make the connections you need when you transition through your divorce. Two connections that can be helpful is a therapist or a divorce coach. It’s important to find a therapist who specializes in working with individuals going through divorce. You can ask the therapist what their specialties are to see if they are experienced with divorce. Divorce coaches work with clients on a more practical level to develop goals and help them prioritize what is needed for the next chapter of their life. In addition to therapists and divorce coaches, connecting with others who have been through the divorce process is especially important. Supportive friends who understand how you feel make you feel less different and can help you move on in your life. But many find it challenging to find others who are divorced.
 
So how do you find other divorced people? There are online support groups, meetups and in-person support groups through organizations that sponsor them. Although it’s scary to reach out, keep in mind that others are most likely feeling the same way. They may be very receptive to your friendship. It takes courage to reach out when you’re feeling vulnerable. Ask yourself, “What do I have to lose?”
 
I recently started a closed Facebook support group for individuals who are separated and divorced. It’s called “Separation and Divorce Support Community”. I encourage you to take a look at it and see if it could be helpful to you. Here are some other ways to make connections and not be lonely:

1. Meet with friends and family face to face: talking on the phone and texting are great but you don’t get the full benefit of connecting with people unless you meet face to face. Schedule face to face meetings into your day.
2. Get to know your neighbors: neighbors are a great resource for friendships and connections. Host a neighborhood gathering, attend one that is already planned or bring over a plant to a new neighbor. 
3. Take a class or join an organization: what have you always been interested but never had the time to do? There’s probably a class at your local school on it. You’ll be surprised how easy it will be to connect with someone who has a similar interest.
4. Reach out and touch someone: give someone a hug, pat someone on the back, or just high five someone. It’s amazing how much less lonely you can feel by physically reaching out.
5. Talk to strangers: small talk and chatting makes us happier and healthier. Talking to strangers is a great way to start a friendship.

 
Whatever you choose to do, remembering your strength will help you have the courage to make connections and combat loneliness. You will see that others are more like you than you thought. Give some of these ideas a try and let me know what works for you!!

​In most relationships, there is conflict. The way that you deal with conflict is so important to being close. John Gottman suggests using specific word to help people repair their relationships when there is conflict. He suggests using “I feel” statements instead of “You” statements. Saying how you feel with “I feel” statements allows the other person to hear you without becoming defensive. It’s a non-threatening way of communicating.
 
I Feel statements:

1. Please say that more gently.
2. Did I do something wrong?
3. I feel blamed. Can you rephrase that?
4. I’m feeling unappreciated.
5. I feel defensive. Can you rephrase that?
6. I’m getting worried.
7. I feel criticized. Can you rephrase that?
8. I’m feeling sad.

 
If the communication starts to get more intense or emotional, one of you may need to take the intensity down. When emotions are high, it’s very difficult to have a reasonable conversation. Here are some suggestions for those circumstances:
 
I Need To Calm Down:

1. I need things to be calmer right now.
2. Can you listen to me right now and try to understand?
3. Tell me you love me.
4. Can I have a hug?
5. Can I take that back?
6. Please help me calm down.
7. I am starting to feel flooded.
8. Can we talk about something else for a while?

 
Apologies and taking responsibility for your part can be really powerful, especially when they’re heartfelt. They can immediately change the intensity of the interaction and start moving you in a different direction.
 
Sorry:

1. My reactions were too extreme. Sorry about that.
2. I really blew that one.
3. Let me try again.
4. I can see my part in all of this.
5. How can I make things better?
6. Let’s try that one over again.
7. I’m sorry. Please forgive me.

 
Finally, in every conflict there is a way to get to a resolution. Providing some positive comments can be very helpful in getting you to an agreement.
 
Get To Yes:

1. I agree with part of what you’re saying.
2. Let’s find our common ground.
3. I never thought of things that way.
4. I think your point of view makes sense.
5. Let’s agree to include both our views in a solution.
6. My part of this problem is…
7. That’s a good point.
8. We are both saying…

 
Using these statements and tools involves being kind. Kindness is the glue to healthy relationships. Kindness is like a muscle – it’s easier to be kind the more you practice. It’s difficult to practice kindness during a fight when emotions are running high. When you’re emotional, it can be hard to think of what to say to be kind. But these kind words can be powerful tools to repair feelings during a conflict so that the end result is a much closer, more intimate relationship.
 

When your partner pulls away, you may feel hurt. You may even feel a deep sense of rejection and fear that he or she doesn’t love you and may leave you.  Typically, this is an irrational feeling if your partner has shown you over time that they love you. Your partner pulling away from you is likely the result of their past experiences and circumstances. Something happened in their past that makes them pull away when they feel upset.
 
Intimate relationships are hard because there are so many complex emotions that we might not fully understand. Experiences from the past are brought up and those feelings impact your reactions. If it was just about the single incident, it wouldn’t take you long to recognize that your partner loves you and when he or she pulled away, it wasn’t due to the way they feel about you. But instead you feel that irrational rejection. So why do you have that irrational feeling?
 
These irrational feelings are usually triggered by past experience – possibly being rejected by a parent or a past partner. A part of the brain that is triggered doesn’t know the difference between the current experience and the past experience. So you feel deeply hurt and you become scared that the person will leave you. You immediately react – either fight or pull away. This may create the same feeling in your partner and, in turn, they may pull away even further. Before you know it, you are completely disconnected from each other emotionally.
 
What do we do about this? The first step is try to figure out what previous experience is coming up for you. Did you have a rejecting parent? Was your parent depressed, anxious, addicted to something or unable to meet your needs when you were a child? If so, when a partner pulls away you feel like a child again. I call it being “kicked into your kid”. You are that 8 or 10-year-old child again where you didn’t get your needs met and didn’t feel unconditional love from a parent. If you have a bad experience of being hurt by a previous relationship, when a partner pulls away you may feel scared of being hurt again. This is a little easier to understand and connect on an emotional level. But this new partner didn’t leave so it’s important to separate your feelings from your past from this current relationship.  
 
The second step is to share your feelings with your partner in a clear, non-threatening way. Use an “I message”:
 
I feel ________________ when you ____________ because _________. Would you please ______________?
 
Example:
I feel hurt when you pull away because it brings up the feelings I had when I was rejected by my mom when I was a child. Would you please let me know that you still love me?
 
This is scary to do for many people because you are making yourself extremely vulnerable. But you are also learning how to communicate your feelings which will bring you closer and will enable you to have a truly deep intimate connection with your significant other.

When you disagree with a spouse, co-worker or child, it’s easy to get emotional. Intense feelings can be triggered and the disagreement can turn into a messy fight. Things are said in the heat of the moment that you can’t take back. At that moment, it seems like you don’t have control over your brain.  Wouldn’t it be great if you were able to train your brain so this wouldn’t happen? 
 
During these interactions, we get consumed by what's called the “reptilian” part of the brain – the survival part of our brain that scans for danger multiple times per second to find potential danger lurking. That primitive part of the brain only sees two possible solutions to problems – fight or flight. The reptilian brain feeds on fear and actually shuts off the creative problem-solving part of the brain. Your heart starts racing, you get flushed and your voice starts getting louder. The other person responds in the same way and the interaction escalates.
 
When your creative thinking area of the brain is shut off, you won’t be able to come to a compromise or handle the situation in the best manner. So what do you do to train your brain not to respond this way? The main technique to learn is to slow your brain down. To be able to do that you literally have to remove yourself from the heated situation by saying, “I need some time…” Give yourself the time and space to slow down. Take deep abdominal breaths, go for a walk, listen to music or call a friend. It may take anywhere from 5 to 30 minutes. Once your brain is functioning slower, you may be able to think of a solution. Or you may realize that you don’t need to come up with a solution right away – you may be able to give yourself a few days or more to find a compromise.
 
Training your brain this way takes time and practice. Don’t get discouraged if you can’t do it right away. Tell yourself, “I’ve got this, I can do this.” Eventually you’ll learn this technique and you’ll find that your newly trained brain will help you tremendously in many different areas of your life. 

I am excited to announce that I am now a verified Expert on Marriage.com!  Here’s my profile page and my first article titled, "How To Cope With Changes In Marriage After A Baby":

https://www.marriage.com/experts/jill-barnett-kaufman

Marriage.com is a wonderful resource that provides articles on a variety of topics including pre-marital issues, communication and intimacy in marriage, parenting, estate planning and financial issues, divorce and legal issues.  The website also provides a forum where you can ask any marriage related question and have an expert answer it.  Marriage.com is a wonderful resource for all things related to marriage.  Check it out!

Most people who are thinking about divorce are extremely conflicted. Some days you feel confident that divorce is the right decision but other days you question whether or not you could be making a mistake.  It may be on your mind for years.  There are so many things that change when you decide to divorce.  It’s absolutely normal to be unsure and to question yourself about this important decision. 
​
Even if you’ve spoken to your spouse or a lawyer about divorce, you may not be ready to make that decision.  Guilt about the impact on the children, fear of financial instability and fear of being alone could be significant factors in the decision of whether or not to divorce. The decision to divorce is one of the most difficult decisions a person can make with consequences that last for a lifetime. 

It is extremely important to think through the decision rationally and to try not to let emotions get in the way.  Fear, anger, resentment and loss can be so intense that you may not see things clearly. If you can work through these feelings with a friend, therapist or divorce coach, you will be better able to make an informed, rational decision that you will be able to live with for the rest of your life.
The following are factors that you should consider before divorce:

1. Do you still have feelings for your partner? Many people struggle in relationships with fighting, anger and resentment building up year after year.  But if you go away for vacation together, do you get along well?  Do you remember why you first fell in love with this person?  Have you gone to counseling to try to work on the relationship?  Relationships are not easy – there are ups and downs over the years.  Is this just a down time in your relationship or has it been this way for a long time?  If you haven’t lost the strong feelings for your partner, you may want to think about working on the relationship before thinking about divorce.2. Are you emotionally ready for divorce?
2. Are you ready to go through the stressful and emotional experience of divorce or are you just frustrated and want the other person to take you seriously? Are you ready to let go of the relationship and the person?  Can you acknowledge that it is both of your responsibility for the breakdown of the relationship?  Have you threatened divorce before in your relationship and not followed through? It can be extremely damaging to a relationship to threaten divorce if it's not something that you truly mean. If it is just a threat, that can be leading to some of the problems in the relationship. If you’re not ready to go through the steps toward divorce, try to stop the threatening and think about starting to work on the relationship.
3. What do you want from the divorce? Do you think that you can find someone else who you will be happier with than your current partner?  If you think that it will be better and easier with someone else and that’s what you want from the divorce, you need to look at all of the consequences of the decision.  Being without a partner is something that you need to think about.  Would you rather be alone than be with this person?  How would you handle being alone?  Do you have the support in place right now to help you through this experience? If you have children, you will always be connected to your ex. How are you going to handle this? Have you thought about finances? Thinking about what you want your future to look like can help you gather the information you need to make an informed, rational decision on whether or not to divorce.

If you have thought through these questions and still feel that divorce is the right decision, then you’re probably ready to start the process.  If you need help with making this decision, a therapist or divorce coach can help you think through these issues in a calm, rational and confidential way.  You are the only person who can make this decision but it can make a difference if you have support throughout the process.

Experts agree that parents who are divorcing need to have an age appropriate conversation with their children telling them: 1) “We both love you very much. Nothing will ever change that love and we will always be here for you.”,  2) ”The divorce isn’t your fault, it’s ours.”  and 3) “Even though things are going to change, we will always be a family.” However, to give your children the best chance for a happy childhood, the positive messaging can’t stop there.
 
There are a number of effective strategies that are extremely important for parents to bear in mind.  One strategy to minimize the negative impact of divorce on children is to keep children out of disagreements between the parents.  Even when couples are married, children get upset when their parents fight.  Imagine how much worse it is for children of divorced or separated parents.  They already have experienced their family breaking apart. They need their parents to reassure them that their new family structure is stable and secure.  Children need to know that their parents will work disagreements out in a calm and rational way.
 
Another way to minimize the negative impact of divorce on children is to avoid saying anything negative about the other parent in front of the children. When parents say negative things about the other parent, they “parentify” their children.  They actually switch roles with the child and children become the parent.  Many parents don’t even realize that they do this.  They rely on their children to be their support system and share information with children that children shouldn’t be aware of. For example, a father complains to his children that he has to pay so much in alimony.  Or a mother complains that the father called her a name.  These things are very upsetting to children and can be damaging.
 
Separation and divorce can be an extremely difficult time in life and it’s very important to get support such as a therapist or a divorce coach.  This will enable parents to have someone to talk to so that they won’t put their children in the middle of their conflicts with their ex-spouse. This will enable children to focus on school, friends and their own lives which is what we want them to be focused on.  
 
Finally, if your child complains about the other parent, encourage your child to work things out with him or her. Say something supportive like, “I’m sure that mom didn’t mean to upset you.  Talk to her about it.”  It’s so important for children to have strong relationships with both parents, if at all possible. These strategies can make the difference and result in children who grow into adults who have happy lives and healthy relationships.

It’s hard to let go of anger: anger at our parents, anger at a former friend, anger at a betrayal, anger at an ex-spouse, anger at ourselves.  It’s understandable.  Someone has done us wrong and we’re angry. We don’t have to forgive them.  We can hold onto the anger for the rest of our lives if we want to. It’s our right to do that. But forgiveness can be healing and enable you to move on.
 
Holding on to anger can consume you.  You start thinking about it all the time. Special occasions can be ruined simply because the person you are angry with is there.  Relationships can be damaged as you project what happened to you in the past onto your current situation.
 
In order to get to forgiveness, you must work through your anger. A beneficial way address anger is to express it. Although anger is a normal emotion, it must be expressed in a constructive manner.  Problems develop when the root of the anger isn’t recognized and the feelings aren’t expressed.
 
One of my clients was angry at her father for leaving her and her mother when she was a child. She carried that anger into her marriage and became angry at her spouse after their child was born.  She felt that he was acting like her father even though he wasn’t anything like her father. It became a self-fulfilling prophecy.  Her husband left her.
 
With some guidance, my client learned how to express her anger at her father and went through all of the feelings she had about him which included sadness, anger, regret and grief.  After expressing all of her emotions, she was actually able to forgive him.  After forgiving him, she was able to move on in her life and develop a deep, intimate connection with a man.
 
It’s like a jar with the top on. If you keep the top on the jar, the anger stays inside. But if you open the jar and let the anger out, it goes away. Once you release the anger you can start the path to forgiveness. Remember forgiving the person is for you, not for the other person. You’ll feel a sense of relief when you aren’t burdened by the anger anymore. Through this process, you’ll be amazed at your ability to heal your past wounds, let go of your anger and move on in your life.
 
 
 
 
Effective methods of releasing anger:

• Talk about it with the person you’re angry with
• Write a letter
• Speak to a friend or a therapist
• Journal your thoughts, feelings and emotions about the person
• Draw your feelings
• Meditate on your feelings
• Physically release the anger by exercising, punching a punching bag, screaming, stamping your feet, ripping paper, hitting a tree with a stick, throw water balloons at a wall or some other physical activity

 

Positive affirmations have been shown to reduce stress.  The following six mantras can be a powerful tool to reduce stress.  Take deep breaths as you say the following:

1. All situations are temporary.  Nothing lasts forever.  Although we know this intellectually, too often we can’t recognize it while we’re going through our daily tasks.  Take a step back either by meditating, taking a deep breath or listening to music.  Then remember what your life was a month or a year ago.  Recognize how different it is now and how temporary the stresses of today are.
2. There is no wrong decision.  When you’ve listed all the pros and cons of a decision and you still question which decision to make, know that there really isn’t a wrong decision.  You typically make the best decision that you can with the information that you have at the moment.  If you realize that any decision has positive and negative aspects to it, and that's ok, you’ll feel better about your decisions.  
3. I’ve survived all of the difficult moments of my past.  Think about all of the things you’ve been through in your life.  It’s pretty impressive if you think about it – you’ve been through moves, maybe some deaths, fights, feeling alone – probably a lot of stressful things.  And you’ve survived.  You get stronger when you experience difficult times.  You’re probably much stronger than you give yourself credit.
4. Be still and breath.  Focus on one idea, one task, one moment and find joy in that stillness.  If you like to be in nature, that can help you to be still.  Walk outside and look at the trees, flowers, streams or children playing.  Find something to help you center yourself.
5. I trust the guidance of the universe.  Choose to believe that whatever you’re dealing with is being worked on by something bigger than yourself.  Even if you’re not religious, you can have faith in yourself and believe that where you are is ok.
6. I love myself.  This is a very powerful mantra.  It can be difficult if we are hard on ourselves which so many people are.  Imagine what you would tell your friend who said that they didn’t love themselves.  Treat yourself like you would treat a good friend. 

These mantras are powerful tools that we can incorporate into our day to reduce our stress.  What mantras have you used that are helpful to you?

Studies have shown that some people are inherently more grateful than others.  People are born with a proclivity towards many different things and being grateful is one of them.  It may have to do with a person's temperament and their ability to be tolerant - some people are more tolerant of everyday hassles such as difficulty finding parking, long waits for help on the phone, etc. The people who are more tolerant of everyday hassles are also more grateful for everyday blessings such as seeing the sunset through the clouds, the right to vote, a quiet moment, etc. 
 
The good news is that being grateful is something that can be learned. If you can incorporate more gratitude into your life, you will be happier, more fulfilled and more peaceful.  How do you incorporate gratitude into your life?  One way is to keep a gratitude journal.  A gratitude journal is simply a journal where you write one thing that you're grateful for every day.  Writing what you're grateful for everyday helps you focus on the positive things in your life so that you can develop a grateful focus.
 
Becoming more grateful has tangible benefits.  In 1,000 people studied, the people who kept a gratitude journal had psychological, physical and social benefits.  They felt more alert and alive.  In addition, they felt less bothered by aches and pains, they exercised more and they had a 10% increase in sleep duration.  There was also an improvement in blood pressure!  Socially, they felt more outgoing, less lonely and more compassionate.  In addition, children who wrote in gratitude journals showed an increase in their GPA.
 
A gratitude journal is just one way to become more grateful.  What other ways can you come up with to become more grateful?