are you considering divorce or separation?
The ending of a relationship is rarely easy. If children are involved, it becomes even more complex. However, you may feel that your marriage or relationship has come to an end; either because you, your partner or both of you feel that there is no longer a future together.
If you do separate, the consequences will last a lifetime, both for you and your children. You will have to deal with the difficult process of separating but then find ways of negotiating the future. A future where you will no longer be together but will still have an ongoing responsibility for your children.
Children can and do survive and thrive after family separation, but it requires hard work to ensure that this happens. You will both need to recognise and deal with the effects on your children and you will both need to be able to deal with your own feelings about the ending of your relationship.
Separating may feel like the only possible solution. Maybe it is. But the decision to separate is a huge one and you may want to consider whether it may be possible to mend your relationship.
Here are some resources to help you...
Relate has a network of relationship counsellors and a group of licensed local counsellors that provide face-to-face and online counselling and support. Their counselling services include bothrelationship counselling and family counselling, Relate also offers blogs, resources, books, and self-help tools for all kinds of relationship problems.
Tavistock Relationships has been pioneering couples therapy for over 70 years, supporting couples to increase their understanding of one another and enhance their capacity to think about themselves. This offers ways out of repeating cycles of negative interaction and conflict, opening more creative and happier ways of being together.
Marriage Care is a faith-based organisation, offering compassionate, affordable support for couples and individuals who want to strengthen, repair, or better understand their relationships. Whether you’re married, living together, or in a long-term partnership, and regardless of whether you have religious faith or not.
The Spark is one of the UK's leading providers of couples counselling, marriage counselling, and family counselling services. The Spark offers a range of counselling services, including couples, marriage, and parenting counselling. Based in Scotland, The Spark offers online and face-to-face counselling for couples across the UK.