My Mom and Dad are Getting a Divorce
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Preface
This book is for children and parents, as well as professionals working with divorcing families. It
focuses on the feelings young children have when their parents divorce. It tells "how it is" for two
fictional characters, Amy and Dan. At the same time, the book describes the feelings of millions
of real children who experience divorce.
The purpose of the book is to help children acknowledge, deal with and communicate the feelings of sadness, loss, hurt, anger, guilt, helplessness, and fear triggered by the divorce. The book demonstrates in story form how parents can be helpful and reassuring. The ways Amy's parents reassure her in the story and the commentaries for parents in the Appendix can serve as a guide to parents.
This book is not designed to make parents feel guilty about getting a divorce. Rather, its purpose is to help parents become aware of what their children are experiencing and how they can minimize the hurt. Regrettably, the hurt that children suffer is too often ignored in our society.
My Mom and Dad Are Getting a Divorce is intended for children four through twelve years of age. The book can be read to young children. Children in the second through sixth grades can either read it by themselves or with parents. The book can also be used by elementary and preschool teachers to stimulate discussion about divorce. Further, the book can be used as a resource for parenthood and occupational child-care courses in high school and college.
A child's adjustment to divorce depends on what parents do or say. The adjustment can be made easier or more difficult. This book is designed to help both parents and children deal more effectively with divorce, so that they can regain their equilibrium and use the crisis to grow as people.
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About the Book
My Mom and Dad Are Getting A Divorce is a healing book about divorce for children 4 to 12 with illustration designed to give young children the information and support they need when going through a divorce. The Appendices offer valuable guidelines and suggestions for parents.
According to the Los Angeles Times book reviewer:
"My Mom and Dad Are Getting A Divorce by Florence Bienenfeld is more than just another
children's book on divorce. It's also a guide for divorcing parents who need help handling the
emotional turmoil that afflicts them as well as the kids. The colorfully illustrated children's
story—an engaging dialogue between a boy and a girl who compare their experiences as children
of divorce—is accompanied by a page-by-page commentary offering sensible advice to parents.
As a result, this modest, unpretentious book amounts to a remarkable resource."
With an emphasis on empowering kids, My Mom and Dad Are Getting A Divorce is timely and pertinent, and is written in a fresh, accessible voice that children and their parents will relate to easily.
About the Author
Dr. Florence Bienefeld has been a Marriage, Family and Child Counselor for over 30 years and served as a Senior Family Counselor and Mediator for the Conciliation Court of Los Angeles county for 11 years. She has counseled thousands of families and is the author of My Mom and Dad Are Getting a Divorce, a healing book about divorce for children 4 to 12 and their parents (1stBooks); Child Custody Mediation: Techniques for Mediators, Judges, Attorneys, Counselors and Parents (1stBooks); Helping Your Child Through Your Divorce, a complete guide to helping children deal with divorce (Hunter House, Inc.); and Do-It-Yourself Conflict Resolution for Couples, a dynamic couple's guide for resolving disagreements amicably and clearing away resentments (Career Press).
Presently, Dr. Bienefeld is in private practice in Pacific Palisades, California specializing in Short-Term Therapy, Couple and Family Mediation, and Child-Custody Mediation.