Helping Your Kids Cope with Divorce the Sandcastles Way: Based on the Program Mandated in Family Courts Nationwide - Softcover

Neuman, M. Gary; Romanowski, Patricia

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0679778012 ISBN 13: 9780679778011

Publisher: Random House USA Inc, 1999

Synopsis

Divorce is painful and confusing. Perhaps now more than ever, you want to give your child all the love, support, and guidance he or she needs, but everything seems harder and more complicated. Helping Your Kids Cope with Divorce the Sandcastles Way can help. Based on Gary Neuman's phenomenally successful Sandcastles program, which has helped more than fifty thousand children cope with divorce, this warm, empathetic guide shows you:

How to build a co-parenting relationship--even when you think you can't

When you or your child should see a therapist

Age-appropriate scripts for addressing sensitive issues

What to do when a parent moves away

How to stop fighting with your ex-spouse

How to navigate the emotional turmoil of custody and visitation

How to help your child deal with change

How to cope with kids' common fears about separation

How to introduce significant others into the family and help your child cope with a new stepfamily

More than a hundred pieces of artwork from children of divorce will help you appreciate how kids perceive the experience. Dozens of special activities and fun exercises will help you communicate and get closer to your child. This guide shows you that divorce need not be an inevitable blot on children's lives, but an opportunity for them to grow and strengthen the bonds with their parents.

About this title

Review:

"Gary Neuman has a wonderful way of nourishing parents while reminding us that there are no simple ways to help children through complicated family times. Whether we're parents, grandparents, or friends, all of us can be grateful for Gary's encouragement to be natural as we talk to--and listen to--our children. We can also be thankful for his support as we reach out for extra help when we feel we need it." --Fred Rogers, creator of Mister Rogers' Neighborhood

"Of all the how-to advice about divorce on the market, the best is probably wrapped up in the book Helping Your Kids Cope with Divorce the Sandcastles Way. It's sympathetic, practical and loving; it covers all the problems faced by children of divorce; and it gives an excellent rundown of the reactions you can expect, age by age." -- The Washington Post

From the Publisher:

A Definitive, Practical Guide for Divorced Parents
Family therapist Gary Neuman has become nationally known as the creator of the Sandcastles™ program for children of divorce, which has now helped more than 30,000 kids nationwide. This highly successful program has been mandated by family courts in a dozen cities, meaning that parents in those cities cannot be granted a divorce until their children go through a one-day Sandcastles session.

Neuman realized that while divorce is devastating for kids, they don't have the adult language to express their sadness, fear, anger, or guilt. He found that the best way to get them to open up is through drawings, games, role playing, poems, and other activities. In his new book, HELPING YOUR KIDS COPE WITH DIVORCE THE SANDCASTLES WAY, he teaches parents how to use these activities to communicate better with their kids, and helps them handle the many challenges they'll face as their children get older.

This is the first major book that gives parents the age-specific, practical, in-depth knowledge they need to help their kids get through this wrenching experience. Highlights of the book include:

* Portraits of families coping with the departure of a parent, dating issues, financial ups and downs, custody problems, new partners, blended families, and other common situations.

* Almost 100 pieces of artwork reproduced from Sandcastles graduates' workbooks, with interpretation from Neuman to help parents understand what common images signify.

* Age-tailored scripts parents can use when talking with their toddlers, preschoolers, pre-adolescents, and teenagers.

* Extensive checklists and sidebars about working out visitation schedules, juggling holidays and birthdays, deciding whether to consider therapy, and much more.

"Gary Neuman has a wonderful way of nourishing parents, while reminding us that there are no simple ways to help children through complicated family times. Whether we're parents, grandparents, or friends, all of us can be grateful for Gary's encouragement of being natural as we talk ! with -- and listen to -- our children." -- Fred Rogers, creator, Mister Rogers' Neighborhood

About this edition

• Publisher: Random House USA Inc
• Publication date: 1999
• ISBN 10: 0679778012
• ISBN 13: 9780679778011
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 480