An associate of mine who facilitates a divorce support group is also a “Friend” on Facebook. Last week, I was sitting-in on one of her get-togethers, to assist with a challenging participant situation. In her role as their facilitator, she weighed-in on a discussion with a rather personal story of her own at one point, to make an empathetic connection. By way of preamble, the facilitator said the details of what she would share were quite embarrassing, and portended possible legal consequences for the person specifically involved. So she wasn’t going to disclose the person’s name in this effectively public… Continue Reading…
December 21, 2004
Last Friday I received a letter from the Friend of the Court in Timbuktu County (I made that name up to protect the innocent, although all other details here are authentic). “So what?” you might ask. Given my profession, you could think it was commonplace. Or you could assume it was personal, having something to do with my own divorce. Nope. It wasn’t either of these. It was a “Notice of Order to Withhold Income for Child Support” — addressed to a business I haven’t run in more than 16 years. It had been mailed to the originally registered address… Continue Reading…
November 19, 2004
“Harsh startups” — I avoid ’em as best I can, thanks to research from John Gottman. [1] That’s why the first session in my current Divorce Recovery Workshop started out with administrative and housekeeping items, just like all those before it. “Here’s my cell phone number for direct access between weekly meetings. Help yourself to beverages at any time during the presentation. If it’s dark outside when we close the meeting, I will walk you to your car….” Who could have seen that last remark as the humdinger it became this time? “How about if I walk you to your… Continue Reading…