Newly updated Parenting Through Separation Guide

In 2021 Resolution’s Parenting After Parting Committee produced the Parenting Through Separation Guide. Written as a collective, the guide is essential for all separating parents. In 2023 the Committee decided to make the guide even better, and sought feedback from Resolution members about how to do so. We are extremely proud that the new version will launch in time for May’s National Conference, and continues to serve as a resource for lawyers and also as an anchor for anyone separating with children.

The guide is a 42-page, visually appealing, easy-to-read document that is available to buy in print format or download from the Resolution website. It shares real stories of parents and their children’s reflections on separation. It’s factual and non-judgemental, and written in a very down-to-earth way. It isn’t meant to be a legal text – it’s aimed at real people who are going through a tough time and is designed to support them on their journey.

There isn’t a resource like it for parents who are separating, and its function as a supporting tool for family law professions has been, according to one lawyer, “invaluable and essential”. As a co-parent coach I send it to all my new clients and indeed anyone who approaches me for support. I’ve had parents feedback that it’s “the most useful thing anyone has given me to read during this awful process”. And “It was so practical. I keep it in the kitchen as a support document. It’s become a crutch for me as I figure out what I’m supposed to be doing.”

Parents can either read the guide as a book, from start to finish, or they can dip in and out using the sections that are most appropriate for what they need. It helps move the reader from the idea of parenting in a relationship towards redefining what parenting is with another parent, a co-parent.

The guide examines in some depth the key areas needed to make co-parenting successful and so looks closely at communication, the voice of the child, and dealing with and including extended families. It also looks at what are the areas that might make it hard to co-parent and how to manage some of those bumps in the road.

One of the really excellent parts of the guide for parents is the jargon buster. We all know that legal speak can be intimidating for clients, and this empowers your clients to understand what is happening. It also talks about what happens when co-parenting isn’t working and the legal processes that can help with that.

It’s practical and no-nonsense, but it’s also supportive and it offers a framework to parents when they are in most need of one.

For your copies please visit resolution.org.uk/publications-books/parenting-through-separation/

Marcie Shaoul, thecoparentway.com