Healthy Co-Parenting: Putting Children First in Your Divorce

Putting Children First in Divorce

More and more often, divorcing parents are opting for the healthier divorce option, divorce mediation, for the sake of their children’s well-being. Mediation can help you and your co-parent to begin communicating in a new way that will facilitate the creation of a personalized parenting plan This unique plan will serve as the foundation for healthy co-parenting now and into the future.

Healthy Co-Parenting

Co-parenting describes the relationship between unmarried parents who share responsibility for their children. A foundational principle of healthy co-parenting is that children benefit from a stable relationship with both parents.

When both parents commit to maintaining a healthy co-parenting relationship, their children experience positive reinforcement for their own relationship with each parent. Parents who avoid criticizing or degrading their co-parent, provide stability and security for their children. When children receive consistent, positive messages from both parents, it is much easier for them to transition from a single household family to a multi-household family.

Why Mediation?

For parents who proceed to a divorce trial, a judge will ultimately render all decisions regarding the time they spend with their children. A judge will also decide who will make the important decisions about the children’s care.

As a loving parent, you know what is best for your children. So why leave life-changing decisions up to a judge when you can stay in control? The Aurit Center’s professional mediators will guide you in reaching personalized agreements for issues of parenting time, legal decision-making authority, and shared financial obligations.

In mediation, you will develop a practical and effective parenting plan that will help limit the strain on you and your children. The importance of a solid personalized parenting plan cannot be overstated. It will provide structure and stability through the first few difficult months following divorce and establish guidelines that will help you avoid conflict in the years to come. A thorough parenting plan thoughtfully anticipates what is to come and supports you as your children grow and their needs change. With the help of a mediator, even high-conflict co-parents can reach agreements regarding the children’s health, education, and religious upbringing. Your mediated parenting plan will ensure that you are set up for successful co-parenting.

What’s Best for Children

Child psychologists agree that high conflict between parents, during and after divorce, can have long-term negative effects on children.The adversarial nature of litigation often fuels conflict and creates a breakdown in communication between parents. It also contributes to a breakdown in supportive communication with the children, leaving them confused, anxious, and upset. However, mediation supports parents and helps them to understand how children respond to divorce and how to best help them adjust.

Parents who make every effort to de-escalate conflict, especially during the divorce process, are developing healthy co-parenting skills. Although this is sometimes easier said than done, a trained mediator can help you to develop new ways of communicating that will lead to more positive interactions. Mediation helps co-parents to provide an informed, supported divorce transition for their kids.

No Need to Fight

While divorce typically comes with some unavoidable pain, parents who commit to healthy co-parenting foster a healthy transition and instill hope of happier days to come. Time and time again, we see that chronic stress can be harmful to adults and children. The mediation process of making agreements that best serve the family’s interests, reducing as much stress as possible during a very difficult transition, promotes the health and well-being of everyone involved. Mediation offers you a healthier option for completing your divorce process.