CCDG Psychologist Habelow on Collaborative Divorce & Mental Health Awareness Month

By Wendy Habelow, Ph.D.

In traditional litigated/adversarial divorces, in “cooperative” divorces in which two attorneys try to work cooperatively together, or even in attorney-led mediations, there is no one trained to understand and support couples with mental health issues. In Collaborative Divorce, a mental health expert, sometimes referred to as the coach, always is part of the professional team, as the process recognizes that divorce is an emotional, as well as a legal and financial process.

This mental health professional can provide expert guidance to the couple and other professional team members to better understand the particular mental health concerns, structure the meetings to minimize conflict and stress that could exacerbate symptoms, provide additional individual support to minimize symptoms, work with an individual’s behavioral health specialist(s), and make community referrals as needed.

In addition, traditional adversarial divorces often use mental health issues as a tool to denigrate a client. In stark contrast, an overarching guiding principle of Collaborative Divorce is “divorce with dignity”– working with couples to ensure that their work together is focused on achieving fair resolutions in an atmosphere of civility and mutual respect. This principle of dignity helps to reinforce that each member of a couple has value and is entitled to be listened to and treated fairly and with respect, even if one or both struggle with mental health issues.