Let’s Talk Divorce - An Innovative Way of Dealing with the Long-Term Effects of Divorce through Parent-Child Relationships

Divorce often reveals the conflicts between couplehood and parenting. In this study, we discuss the influences of self-perception of the divorcee as “leaving” or “having been left”, gender, and relationships on the ability to talk about the divorce and the resilience of members in the family. Despite the fact that changes due to divorce are so common, there aren’t many tools that can help a parent, or even a therapist, to encourage discourse on the subject. The game “Let’s Talk Divorce” was created with the intention of using the relationship between the adult and the child for the healing processes. It is designed as an instrument to help work through the issues of change, emotions, thoughts and behaviors, in an experiential way. A case study of a woman’s therapeutic process, two years after her divorce, will be discussed. This case demonstrates how one may apply “Let’s Talk Divorce” as a platform to create a space for dialog with children, and lead to a substantial improvement in feelings and relationships. We will discuss the important potential of relying on the parent-child relationship, and then discuss how this tool can be used in clinics and/or in an individual or family therapeutic setting.