Divorce Specialist Sheva Ganz: “Bashing one side to another only hurts someone’s ability to move forward and heal”

An interview with Ilyssa Panitz

One of the things that children need, but don’t often get, in a divorce is validation of their feelings. It is hard to see your child or grandchild in pain, so an adult might feel inclined to deflect or minimize that pain by saying things like, “you’ll be fine” or “it won’t be so bad.” While both of those may be true, what a child really needs in that moment is acknowledgment that their feelings are real and acceptable. Listening to your grandchild can simply mean giving them a place to express their pain, so that they feel heard and believe their feelings are valid.

When a couple shares the news, they are getting divorced, everyone, this being both family and friends, starts to feel uneasy. They may turn to their partner, pal or sibling and ask, “What do we do? Can we still talk to her? Can we still…