American Heroes Saving Lives: Mother and Daughter Family Therapists Speak up for the Innocent Victims of Divorce
New children's book on divorce by South Florida-based therapists Karen Kaye and Hara Wachholder "takes children's feelings out of the shadows and brings them to the light."
FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla., Nov. 14, 2019 /PRNewswire-PRWeb/ -- Imagine, if it's not already part of your life experience, what it must be like to get a divorce. The trauma alone can ruin lives and fragment fragile psyches. And that is just for adults.
Now imagine the impact on children.
An estimated 40-50% of American marriages end in divorce, according to the American Psychological Association. With divorce in the headlines and on the minds of millions, across all walks of life, South Florida-based therapists Karen Kaye and Hara Wachholder have teamed up to address this important public health crisis in a meaningful way. While they counsel those who need help navigating the turbulent waters of divorce, they have also put together a new, interactive children's book titled My Parents are Getting a Divorce . . . I Wonder What Will Happen to Me (Inkwater Press, paperback, $19.95).
According to Wachholder, "we intentionally structured this tool as a workbook that maximizes face-to-face interaction. It's phenomenally easy these days for kids to zone out on their devices. Unfortunately, zoning out often includes not dealing with feelings that will reverberate later." Taking a fresh, much-needed approach to healing a divided nation, My Parents Are Getting a Divorce is "a valuable and thoughtful discussion tool for divorcing parents and their children," says Rosalind Sedacca, founder of the Child-Centered Divorce Network and author of How Do I Tell the Kids about the Divorce? [It] "enables parents and professionals to get deeper insights into challenges, fears or insecurities children are coping with that they may not be expressing."
My Parents Are Getting a Divorce is an effective tool for helping parents and children to be honest in what they're feeling. It sets the environment as a completely safe space for emotional exploration. This interactive, colorfully illustrated workbook encourages drawing, writing, and self-affirmation as forms of emotional communication to assist children in identifying and gaining access to a myriad of swirling emotions.
For both authors, mother and daughter, this book is personal. Much of what makes My Parents Are Getting a Divorce such an effective resource for children facing disruption in their lives, comes from the inside out. Kaye developed the themes of this book from her own personal struggle to keep her daughter growing and thriving during what is arguably one of the most traumatic experiences of childhood.
"As therapists in private practice, we have both witnessed parents being so focused on the fight between themselves that the children drown in the middle," says Wachholder. "I promised that I'd write a book to help other single parents raise emotionally whole-well balanced children no matter what their circumstances," adds Kaye, looking proudly at her daughter.
What these licensed mental health counselors have identified is important for everyone to remember: divorce affects more than just the two parties seeking to end their marriage. Divorce has ramifications that spread to the children, schools, healthcare industry, public safety, friends, and family. When a child is subjected to the traumatic experience of seeing their parents split up, it can cause a host of issues that create systemic problems. "If we as a society address these issues in their earlier stages, says Kaye, "we can build on that progress and create a better future—one where we are all reconciled and feel loved."
Karen Kaye is a licensed mental health counselor with the State of Florida and received her master's degree in family therapy from the University of Maryland. For fifteen years she has written a column titled, "Ask the Therapist" in the Natural Awakenings Magazine of Broward County, Florida. My Parents Are Getting a Divorce came to life through Karen's efforts to keep her own child out of the middle of her divorce when Hara was young. The book has been an evolutionary healing process for her and her daughter.
Hara Wachholder is a licensed mental health counselor with the State of Florida and received her master's degree in counseling from Nova Southeastern University. It was after the resolution of the long-winded custody battle between her parents that Hara recognized her calling to help others going through the same struggle. Hara Wachholder is currently the clinical director for a family therapy center located in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.
If you would like more information on this topic, please contact Karen Kaye at 954-384-1217 or via email at [email protected]. You can also visit: http://www.imstillmebook.com.
Media contact: Victor Gulotta
Gulotta Communications, Inc.
617-630-9286
http://www.booktours.com
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SOURCE Karen Kaye and Hara Wachholder
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