Even when the divorce process is over, the parenting process continues.
And hot take? Parenting doesn’t exactly end at 18 either. And the parenting process? Well… it feels like there can be 1,000 different decisions to make at any given moment. Forms to return to school, baseball games to put on the schedule, and the leotard that was left in the change room that you need to double back for. Don’t even ask what’s for dinner.
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Working With Divorce in Play Therapy: From High Conflict Divorce To High Conflict Co Parenting4/16/2025 
When thinking about divorce and separation sometimes it feels like there needs to be a dictionary of terms.
And definition and terms? They are essential for understanding and making sense of all of the complex concepts that come with working with divorced and separated family systems, which allows you to increase your ability to support the kids, teens, and families that come into your playroom. 
One of the major tasks of play therapy is assessing the family system.
What is the level of attachment? The quality of the parent child relationship? What are the sources of strength and resilience? Areas of difficulty? Opportunities for skills and growth? And in divorced or separated family systems this assessment is much more complex. 
Divorce can be prickly.
Choosing to end a marriage can be one of the most difficult choices a family can make...even if it was the absolute right choice in the end. And for a family with kids, divorce is monumental. For kids, life as they know it is over. It wasn’t their choice or their fault, but they are caught in the middle of very adult decisions. 
Soo… parents have had the talk and they've told the kids.
Even though they love their children very much, the marriage isn’t working and the family will be happier apart. Yup, it’s time to get divorced. So what next? Does that mean that parents need to rush out and sign those intake papers to start therapy for their kids? 
In this Parenting Skills Series I am going to share some of the quick tips and phrases I share with parents daily in my practice to help them become the parents they want to be! When parents can have skills, tips, and tools to help them navigate in their parenting journey they grow in their confidence and regulation in supporting their children in life’s ups and downs!
Today is all about how to help kids develop distress tolerance skills and develop patience! I mean.... as much patience as is developmentally appropriate for kids! 
In this Parenting Skills Series I am going to share some of the quick tips and phrases I share with parents daily in my practice to help them become the parents they want to be! When parents can have skills, tips, and tools to help them navigate in their parenting journey they grow in their confidence and regulation in supporting their children in life’s ups and downs!
And today it is all about how to help kids make more effective choices. 
A little bit of reinforcement is worth its weight in GOLD for kids mental health. Okay, to be honest, this is true for adults too. We absolutely LOVE to be told that we are doing a good job, we are appreciated, or we are on the right track!
Want to know more about the power of reinforcement, and why we should throw it around like glitter? Check out more HERE! 
If your intake sessions, parent only sessions, or child therapy sessions don’t include some of the following comments from parents, you might not be a child therapist. It is SO common for parents to want and request things for their child like:
How many times have you watched kids create a block creation in the playroom? If you said “more than I can count”, well…. same. Whether it is blocks, legos, magnatiles, or cards there is one thing in common for every sturdy and tall standing tower - a secure and stable base.
And this is true for implementing parenting skills too! |
Hi, there!I'm Ann Meehan, an LPCC, 
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[email protected] | Copyright Meehan Mental Health Services 2025