July is National Child-Centered Divorce Month, and we are reminded that the impact of divorce reaches way beyond the parents going their separate ways. While it is a challenging and life-altering event for everyone involved, no one is impacted more than kids. When it comes to children of divorce, there must be a focused effort to ensure they have everything they need to process and adjust to these life-altering changes. As they will likely grapple with emotions and uncertainties, professional counseling provides hope for stability.
Professional Guidance Can Lead to an Optimistic Path for Children of Divorce
In such turbulent times, effective communication emerges as a powerful tool to help children navigate through the storm of divorce. Outcomes can vary from child to child and depend on several factors, such as age, the circumstances of the divorce, and the quality of counseling provided.
Counseling following divorce has been linked to enhanced emotional well-being in children, aiding them in managing anger, sadness, and confusion. Additionally, studies show that school counselors use evidence-based preventative interventions to reduce risk factors and promote resilient outcomes. Moreover, they mitigate behavioral issues, fostering healthier emotional management and communication skills as the child ages.
Easing the Search for Affordable Counseling
Affordable counseling options are not always easy to find and are one of the most significant barriers to receiving therapy. Unfortunately, this roadblock to finding help for children of divorce and their parents is all too real. To overcome this roadblock and provide children of divorce and their parents with the critical resources they need, EAC Network offers programs that pave an achievable path forward. Our organization strives to strengthen parent-child relationships and empower children through improved coping strategies and resilience by providing a safe space for communication, learning, and understanding.
EAC Network Extends Support to Individuals Affected by Divorce
Our organization presents a range of services designed to address different aspects stemming from divorce. EAC Network helps navigate this situation effectively, benefiting all parties involved.
ERASE Program
Parents are provided helpful information, tools for success such as “vocational services,” and payment monitoring throughout the first steps of child support to improve compliance.
Project Access
This program focuses on counseling services, parent education, mediation, development of parenting plans, and visitation enforcement in a neutral, safe, and conflict-free setting.
Supervised Visitation Services (SV)
This program allows non-custodial parents to visit with their children to develop vital parent-child relationships in safe, neutral, supervised settings. Two additional services under this same service grouping include:
- Enhanced Supervised Visitation (ESV) – Taking supervised visitation a step further, this service is offered to families involved with the Department of Social Services and/or the foster care system.
- Family Treatment Court Supervised Visitation (FTCSV) – Pertaining to Family Treatment Court cases in which parents have been found neglectful as a result of alcohol and/or substance abuse, this service offers supervised visits only (by referral) from Family Treatment Court. supervised visits (by referrals only) from Family Treatment Court in cases where parents have been found neglectful as a result of alcohol and/or substance abuse.
Counseling Resources: An Invaluable Tool for Creating a New and Brighter Outlook
Children of divorce have little say in what transpired, yet they lose the most and often feel as though their feeling and emotions are denied or ignored. It’s essential to remember that counseling is not a one-size-fits-all solution, and effectiveness will vary. However, ensuring that counseling programs are available is crucial to adapting and adjusting to their new reality.
Are you interested in volunteering or donating time, resources, or money to one of our over a hundred programs? If you want to volunteer or donate to any of EAC Network’s programs, please contact us today! Join EAC Network on our mission as we uplift New York communities, our member at a time.
