Picking The Right Social Supports During Divorce

Humans need social support systems to help us cope with stressful events or hard times in life. We all have those friends we run to when life gets tough to give us advise and to comfort us. But are they always the right type of social support during your divorce? It is extremely important to carefully choose your social supports because it can have an affect on your health and the success of the divorce process.

Garner The Support of Friends and Family

Friends and family are good support systems that can help keep you sane and grounded. Going through a divorce is stressful and often the person we become during a divorce is not who we truly are. Friends and family can help remind us who we are at core and keep us from making rash decisions.

Nobody can fully understand someone’s experience unless like someone who has experienced it themselves. Some of the best people to talk to are people that have been in your situation. They can give good advice about what to expect during the divorce process and tips on how to make it successful for you and your children.

Empathetic support can also afford us some time to ourselves; we can take comfort in sending the children off to a family or friend’s place for a short period of time knowing the kids are not around the stress and you finally have time for some self-care.

Still, use wisdom when talking to people about their bad divorces. They may have great advice about what they would have done differently that can save you a great deal of time and money, but on the other hand, they may offer toxic advice that can negatively impact your process. Remember everyone’s situation is different. Different attitudes, different personalities, different resources, different ways of dealing with emotions, different processes, different professionals, etc.

You Get What You Pay For

Remember that there are different kinds of support. The support of a loved one is very different from the support of a professional. Having good professional support systems can bring you real peace in multiple ways. For instance, counselling or therapeutic support has been proven to help people move on faster, as well as avoid expensive emotional mistakes during legal processes. The support of a legal or financial professionals can bring the much needed wisdom and clarity needed in a confusing settings. And of course medical support will help you manage your strength and health during a very stressful time.

It can be tough to reach out for comfort and support. It is tempting to isolate ourselves and dabble with unhealthy coping methods. Still, it is so important to reach out to our social support systems in such stressful life situations to help us cope and move on, and to bring us the invaluable advice that can ultimately help us in this time of struggle.