No one wants to hear about the 'Big D.' Some people try to give advice when they've never been in that position themselves before. A pending divorce can be a scary and devastating experience for a married
couple. For every divorcing person, the future is nothing but uncertainty,
anxiety and confusion. Such an emotional state is not good for focusing on
priorities or thinking clearly. It is a good idea for family and friends to work together to offer positive
survival support. I've tried to list some things that are needed from the
perspective of a person going through a divorce. Take it from me, it isn't easy and not every situation is the same. Reasons for divorce are quite different so do not try to compare them to someone else's.
DON'T LET THE PERSON LOSE SELF-ESTEEM.
Probably the most common destructive side effect of any failed marriage is
the loss of self-esteem. The person going through this needs constant encouragement so build them up! A marriage failure is bound to take a large chunk out
of anyone's self-confidence, regardless of how good it might have been coming
into the situation. No matter how good of a wife or husband you were, you could
have always done better to make the marriage work. Or if one spouse walks out on
the other- for whatever reason, the abandoned partner can't help but feel
terrible about him or herself and feel like a victim.
There will always be lots of unanswered questions that will fester with the
divorced person and seriously damage self-esteem. What did I do wrong? What is
wrong with me as a man or woman? Am I being singled out and punished for
something I have done wrong? Am I damaged forever? What could I have done
differently? Why didn't I do it?
In giving support during a divorce, you can't tell someone not to feel bad
about a terrible situation. However, you can help them separate feeling bad
about the divorce and feeling bad about themselves, (and even about the other
person). There is no connection between either of these two things and they
don't belong together in the same sentence.
There is nothing "wrong" with either person in a divorce (although that may
be harder to say in some cases!) They were both just part of a bad situation
that didn't work. Assigning blame is just arbitrary and artificial. There can
never be an accurate scorecard, so why bother keeping score? By doing that you
are not helping the person move forward.
HELP THE PERSON TO ACCEPT REALITY.
A person facing the possibility of a divorce doesn't want to face certain
realities and so you must tread softly in this area. People faced with the
divorce option don't want to see the marriage as a total mistake or that it
could never have worked no matter who did what. The fact that a marriage is over
is also a hard reality to swallow. Facing any kind of failure is the last thing
any of us wants to do.
You have to be very careful of not letting your own personal values or what
you "know" interfere with what you say to the person who doesn't want to face
important realities. Somehow you have to figure out how to help the person
prepare for some practical realities, such as moving, getting a different job,
straightening out finances, not distancing good friends, etc., without
discounting their natural denial as to the inevitable.Even when you know for certain that a marriage is over for someone or that it
could never work, you can't impose that information on the person who equally
knows for sure nothing is certain. Plus it is always easier for a person outside
the situation to see the truth more clearly. But at the same time, situations
have a way of suddenly changing in unexpected ways. Nothing is really that
certain. The wise person knows that things are always tentative until they
actually happen.
ENCOURAGE THE PERSON TO LEARN SOMETHING IMPORTANT.
It may be tempting to analyze the marriage and come up with a list of good
reasons why it didn't work out. We all do have this strong tendency to
understand things, especially the bad things that happen to us. You can be
driven to make sense out of these things. But that is not necessarily
productive, because your reasons may be wrong or artificial, despite how
appealing or credible they may be.
It may be better to look at a divorce as a "random accident" with no definite
cause. From there, it is productive to help the person think about what he or
she can do to prevent such an accident from re-occurring in the future. You can
help them become clearer on what qualities hold a marriage together. One thing I
have personally learned the hard way is to be more sensitive to red flags. If
two people don't bring out the best in one another from the beginning, the
ending is not likely to be a happy one.
Another important consideration in selecting the right marriage partner is
reasonable compatibility in values and needs. Disparity between partner's needs
and values can cause too much friction once the romantic bliss wears off.
Realizing this after a failed experience can be a real learning experience.
STEER THE PERSON AWAY FROM HOPELESSNESS
A divorce experience is highly likely to result in a person building a wall
of disparity and self-protection to hide behind. Once burned, never again!
Although it is a natural self-defense reaction, wall-building is not healthy or
productive. Sooner or later the wall has to come down, and the higher it is, the
harder it falls.
There are lots of bleak, premature conclusions to help the person not dwell
on. "I'll never be able to trust anybody ever again. I can't go through this
again. I'll never have any happiness. There is nobody else out there for me.
There is something dreadfully wrong with me." It might be better to help the person learn to pay more attention to their
intuitive feelings or rational concerns that raise red flags in the dating stage
of a relationship. That way he or she can improve the ability to select the
right partner and assure a happy, successful marriage. Or, this might be the
perfect time to encourage the person to move, go back to school or change jobs
to get some new scenery.
ENCOURAGE THE PERSON.
If you are a happily married person or you have survived a divorce yourself,
you are in an excellent position to demonstrate the positive attitude it takes
to avoid becoming a psychological victim of divorce. You know there is hope for
happiness and you can live it as inspiration for the divorcing person. If you
have survived a divorce and gone onto a happy marriage, other relationship, or
remained happily single, you are living proof that there is live after divorce.
Build self-esteem, don't impose your realities, suggest some helpful
learning, encourage hope and help the person to gradually move forward by your
own good example. You can survive the potentially destructive aspects of the
experience. If there are children involved, be very cautious. Whatever you do, DO NOT make the kids choose a side. DO NOT use the children as a tool or leverage, and DO NOT put your wants and needs before your children's...they come first, you come second.Don't be selfish because this isn't all about you!
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