Relationship Breakdowns - Pathfinder Investigations

Healing From Family Rifts – Mark Sichel

A family rift is one of the most traumatic experiences a person can face. It can have a profound effect on virtually every aspect of life, causing depression, relationship problems, and even physical illness. Healing From Family Rifts – Ten Steps to Finding Peace After Being Cut Off From A Family Member offers hope to those coping with a split in their families.

Uniquely, family therapist Mark Sichel does not assume that every rift will or even should be mended. He addresses the pain and shame connected with family rifts and offers a way through the crisis and on toward healing and fulfilment.

Jan says, “I know from personal experience how painful it is when miscommunication leads to close family members withdrawing their emotional support, especially when they refuse to tell you how you have upset them. By the time one passed away 4 years later, I felt I’d already gone through the bereavement process by trying, in vain, to broker a peace between us. Truth be told, I’m hopeless at solving my own problems, but seem to have a knack for helping others and it gives me great pleasure to do so. If only I had read this invaluable book beforehand!”

Helping Your Kids Cope With Divorce – M. Gary Neuman

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You want to give your child all the love, support and guidance he or she needs. Gary Neuman’s Sandcastle’s Way has helped more than 50,000 children cope with divorce, and this warm empathetic guide shows you how to: Build a co-parenting relationship, even when you think you can’t; know when you or your child should see a therapist; address sensitive issues using age-appropriate scripts; cope when a parent moves away; stop fighting with your ex-spouse; navigate the emotional turmoil of custody and visitation; help your child deal with change; cope with kids’ common fears about separation; introduce significant others into the family and help your child cope with a new step-family.

Fred Stays With Me! – Nancy Coffelt

Told from the point of view of a young child whose parents are divorced, Fred Stays with Me follows the child and her dog, Fred, from one parent’s house to the other’s, giving the child a sense of continuity and stability. With a simple text and kidlike language, the story expresses and addresses a child’s concerns, highlights the friendship between child and pet, presents a common ground for the parents, and resolves conflict in a positive way. Tricia Tusa’s charming and whimsical artwork adds a light, happy feel to this poignant but not overly sentimental story.

Two Nests – Laurence Anholt

This is a gentle story about family separation with a happy ending.
Betty and Paul are two little birds who build a nest together in a cherry tree. Betty lays an egg and out pops Baby Bird. Everyone is happy and all the other animals come to see the baby. But the nest is small, Betty and Paul squabble, and they decide that Paul should live in a different nest across the other side of the tree… Now there are two nests in the cherry tree. But Betty and Paul both love Baby Bird, and soon he is able to fly over the cherry tree, visiting his Two Nests.

The Invisible String – Patrice Karst

Parents, educators, therapists, and social workers alike have declared The Invisible String the perfect tool for coping with all kinds of separation anxiety, loss, and grief. In this relatable and reassuring contemporary classic, a mother tells her two children that they’re all connected by an invisible string. “That’s impossible!” the children insist, but still they want to know more: “What kind of string?” The answer is the simple truth that binds us all: An Invisible String made of love. Even though you can’t see it with your eyes, you can feel it deep in your heart, and know that you are always connected to the ones you love. Does everybody have an Invisible String? How far does it reach? Does it ever go away? This heartwarming picture book for all ages explores questions about the intangible yet unbreakable connections between us, and opens up deeper conversations about love.

When My Parents Forgot How to Be Friends – Jennifer Moore-Malinos, Marta Fabrega

Young children become confused and hurt when their parents constantly argue, then decide to divorce. This sensitively written book assures boys and girls that children are in no way responsible for their parents’ inability to get along together. It lets kids know that although one parent chooses to move away from the home, both parents continue to love their little boy or girl. Both Mom and Dad will continue to spend happy times with them. Even very young children have concerns and anxieties, and Let’s Talk About It! books are written and illustrated especially for them. Parents are advised to read these books aloud while their preschooler listens and looks at illustrations of the boys and girls in each story. Many children in early grades will be able to read the stories for themselves. Let’s Talk About It! books encourage children to explore their feelings, and then to speak openly about things that trouble them.

Two Homes – Claire Masurel

At Mommy’s house, Alex has a soft chair. At Daddy’s house, Alex has a rocking chair. In each home, Alex also has a special bedroom and lots of friends to play with. But whether Alex is with Mommy or with Daddy, one thing always stays the same — Alex is loved. The gently reassuring text focuses on what is gained rather than what is lost when parents divorce, while the sensitive illustrations, depicting two unique homes in all their small details, firmly establish Alex’s place in both of them. Two Homes will help children — and parents — embrace even the most difficult of changes with an open and optimistic heart.

Divorce & Men – Ben Corry

Australian Ben Corry writes a plain English guide for men at the very start of their separation and divorce. Having been through this ordeal himself, he gives practical tips on how to deal with emotions, children, lawyers, the divorce itself and the financial settlement, and provides invaluable templates to ease you through this process.

How To Run Your Own Court Case – Nadine Behan

Nadine Behan has written a book that will be invaluable to the many people who find themselves parties to litigation and have no lawyer. Some tribunals exclude lawyers, many deal with subject matters too small to justify the expense of lawyers, and unhappily many litigants in important matters such as child contact simply cannot afford to have a lawyer but are denied legal aid. To all of these people, this book is a friend in need. Even when one can afford a lawyer, it is nice to know what is happening. Every step in litigation is carefully but simply explained, and illustrated by useful examples. In addition there is a glossary of legal terms, which will help the amateur understand what is happening. The book covers all of Australia and concludes with very useful lists of Dispute Resolution Services, Legal Aid Centres and Community Legal Centres where the reader, if necessary, may obtain further assistance. Nadine is one of those lawyers who specialised in helping the needy at community legal centres and through this book she continues to help the many persons who cannot afford to pay legal fees.