Elle Barr, attorney and Judicial Educational Coordinator for Our FamilyWizard will discuss what the phrase Best Interests of the Children really means and looks like. Family law professionals use this phrase constantly, but it's the most difficult behavior to enact. Most people are so emotional during the divorce process that they can barely function. Keeping the parents' own lives together is difficult enough with working, domestic duties, children's schooling and activities, and now the co-parenting plan is added, that parents are completely stressed out. Barr will discuss some tips for focusing on the children as well as yourself and the other co-parent. Everybody does the best they can, but sometimes your best needs help. There are ways to mitigate your parental personal stress in order to focus on whatever needs to be done to keep the children balanced and healthy as the entire family goes through the divorce transition.

We are told to forgive those who have perpetrated ills on us, but we are seldom told to forgive ourselves for those same issues. Self-forgiveness carries with it intended change so that we don't remain in the same destructive behavior pattern that caused our concerning behavior in the first place. Self-forgiveness is necessary to self-evaluate, self-reflect, and redefine who we want to be and how we want to function as individuals. The power of forgiving another person is huge - it frees the heart to feel good again - while self-forgiveness is a game-changer that will make us better people in relation to ourselves and ultimately others.

Holidays are stressful enough without the additional effort in organizing co-parenting plans with blended families. These configurations can be anything from everyone gets together in one house, to separating days with the children, to dividing each day between co-parents. Whichever way works best for your family, Judy will support with different approaches to including step-parents, when to include step-parents, how step-parents can create their own dynamic for an amicable extension of the family, and how to eliminate the stress attached to these decisions. Let's end this year with a Ho-Ho-Ho for All!?

Molly takes us through her journey to divorce, in light of her religious background and her role as a home schooler, two very important considerations while making the decision to transition out of the marriage. Molly and her former husband made a conscious decision to give their children the best lives possible post divorce, and to always blend their families. Now that Molly and the children's father are in other relationships, their families have grown to include everyone! They even have a blended family holiday card that they send out to friends and family. Let's listen to this incredible role model of a single mom, divorced mom, and step-parent share her divorce story, her story of conscious commitment to family, and how she has made her blended family a modern miracle to enjoy and from which to learn.

Everyone experiences pain in divorce, from the lead-up to the decision of the divorce, through the process of uncoupling, in order to create a new beginning from this significant life event. We feature Adele because she speaks about her entire process in an interview with Oprah, interfaced with clips from her Hollywood Concert at the Griffith Park Conservatory. The lyrics from her CD “30” confront and explain her pain and how she processed it. Her outlet is music. What’s your divorce song?

Karen McMahon, Certified Divorce Coach is visionary, clear, and eye opening in terms of providing a roadmap for healing. empathy, understanding, and acceptance of this major life event called 'divorce'. There are 7 stages of grief in divorce, while only 5 when grieving a life lost of a loved one through death. Divorce is often described as a death, but it's a death of a relationship while the partner we're losing is still alive. If there are minor children to co-parent, you still have to be in contact with the person you've just grieved. The loss of a marriage can be more devastating than the loss of a human life. That's why this episode with Karen McMahon is so important for everyone going through divorce. and contemplating divorce.

Receiving a divorce settlement is great, especially if there are significant cash assets, real estate, and retirement plans included. It's what we do with the settlement that's key, and having a professional who knows how to invest it is gold! Jonathan will walk you through the mindset needed to manage your settlement properly, and share options you have to consider in order to choose someone who will do the best for you to help your invests grow. Divorce is so emotional that spending the money after divorce will be enticing, but the discipline required to gratify yourself and invest will be your ticket to financial freedom.

For 20 years Catharine Blake worked as a Child & Family Psychotherapist, before becoming a Certified Divorce Coach. Working with children in stressful family dynamics is a rarity in the world of therapy because it is so extremely difficult. On this episode of THE Amicable Divorce Expert podcast Catharine Blake will share her knowledge and provide guidance for parents going through divorce so that they can avoid the pitfalls that will create anxious, stressed, and unhealthy children, from introducing new partners into the family dynamic, supporting their children in their children’s activities, to communicating with each other amicably.

Our Celebrity Divorce series focuses on the current child support modification case of Charlie Sheen and Denise Richards. Attorney Matthew Smurda will take us through the modification process for custody, the co-parenting schedule, and child support, addressing fears and concerns that both parents have with these three aspects of co-parenting.

Mediator & Psychotherapist Dr. Kathy Memel, Victoria Goldfarb, Esq., LMFT, Mediator; Therapist & Mediator Michele Hahn; and Mediator Marvin Whistler discuss their challenges in working with spouses in a divorce and what their clients can do to have a more successful and amicable divorce settlement process.