In the presence of grief: The role of cognitive-emotional adaptation in contemporary divorce mediation

Any professional-an attorney, psychologist, social worker, family physician, accountantworking to assist couples make the transition out of marriage quickly realizes that, if not already present in full force, the psychological pain of relationship dissolution rests quite close to the surface. After a period of initial upheaval, most adults and children fare well following divorce and other separation experiences (Amato, 2000; Emery, 1999, 2004; Hetherington & Kelly, 2002). However, for parents, this transition period characterized by financial, contextual, and psychological crisis and change is precisely when important family decisions have to be made: How should custody arrangements be divided? What is a good visitation plan? How much child support or alimony should paid? For this reason, therapeutic interventions designed to treat, ameliorate, or otherwise counteract the potentially deleterious effects of divorce must be deeply rooted in empirical research on the cognitive-emotional sequelae of relationship dissolution. Said differently, practitioners need to know where people can get emotionally stuck following the end of their marriage and what to do about it.