Litigated divorce can be traumatic, and with so many marriages ending in divorce, it’s essential for families to understand there are alternatives to the family law courtroom. Currently, almost half of first marriages end in divorce in the United States; 67% of second and 73% of third marriages end in divorce. Too often in these divorces, children are ignored as parents face off in the courtroom. A new book shows how Collaborative Divorce and Divorce Mediation protect children and even provide them with a voice in the divorce process.

In The Collaborative Divorce Advantage, co-author Ria Severance, LMFT, shares how a Child Specialist (CS) can provide assistance to divorcing families by ensuring that the children have a seat at the table. In addition, Severance details how Child Specialists can provide parents with new tools as they learn to co-parent and ensure the children’s needs are being met throughout the divorce process.

Most divorcing couples aren’t aware of the long-term emotional and financial implications their divorce may have—or the turmoil it can cause for their children. By divorcing consciously via Collaborative Divorce or Divorce Mediation, separating couples can work together to ensure the children’s needs are recognized and that they receive support through the process. The Collaborative Divorce Advantage illustrates how these methods:

– Provide a healthier alternative to litigation;

– Create a space for the needs of the children to be addressed;

– Provide participants with a neutral party to help regulate the process and provide important insight and expertise; and

– Allow participants to create parenting plans that work for them now and into the future.

Severance has witnessed first-hand the resulting fallout of a litigated divorce—as both a child and an adult. She shares, “parents are understandably never at their best during a divorce, and the CS aligns with their highest values to ensure the wellbeing of the children remains at the forefront of all divorce-related decisions.” By including a Child Specialist, she argues, parents can help protect their children from the emotional fallout that is common with litigated divorces.

Ria Severance, LMFT, serves as a Collaborative Divorce Coach, Child Specialist, Co-Mediator, Co-Parenting Specialist, and Executive Development Consultant in South Pasadena, California. She helps families stay out of court by empowering separating or divorcing parents to develop a parenting plan and form an alliance and skill set that puts the best interests of children first while addressing the needs of all family members. She also volunteers as a Co-Mediator and Divorce Coach at Loyola Law School.

For more information about Ria Severance, visit http://riaseverance.com.

The Collaborative Divorce Advantage: Divorce Consciously to Protect Your Children and Avoid Financial and Emotional Bankruptcy (Moguly Media, LLC, $12.99, 105 pages, 6” x 9” paperback, ISBN: 978-0692893425; $9.99, eBook) is available on Amazon.

For more information about the book, visit http://collaborativedivorcebook.info.