Cutting Through The Confusion Of What A Divorce Coach Is … And Isn’t

A CDC Certified Divorce Coach^® helps the individual caught in the overwhelm of divorce to make the best decisions possible for their future based on their particular wants, needs, and concerns. A personal divorce coach supports their client in moving forward towards that future, one step at a time, lighting a path through the mental fog created by the emotional overwhelm of divorce.

As divorce coaches, we are often asked – what does a divorce coach do and how does this help/work with their client’s other divorce professional (mediator/therapist/attorney) meetings.

Mediator: While a mediator works with both parties in a divorce to hammer out how to reconcile various wants and needs during the divorce settlement negotiation, remaining neutral to outcome of the mediation and neutral in the support of each of the two clients, a personal divorce coach has a very different client-centric point of view and usually works with only one of the individuals making up the divorcing couple.

Therapist: A Therapist assesses, diagnoses, treats and prevents emotional and mental disorders and dysfunctions. A personal divorce coach helps the client to focus on the future, recognizing what is in the way of the client accomplishing what they are pursuing. The coach works with clients in very practical ways. Personal Divorce Coaching takes place where the rubber meets the road in the decisions, large and small, every day, which set the stage for creating the next chapter in the best way possible. This is the biggest difference between divorce coaching and therapy – turning the story of divorce into the business of divorce, i.e. making better decisions during divorce based on needs and wants and recognizing that emotional justice will not come out of the legal process.

Attorney: In most states, provinces, and countries, only individuals licensed to provide legal advice may do so. Certified Divorce Coaches respect the boundaries between Divorce Coaching and attorneys and carefully avoid the unauthorized practice of law. However, there are many ways in which A CDC Certified Divorce Coach^® can support the client in becoming a more credible participant in all of the discussions during the process of divorce, such as:

• Establishing realistic expectations for the respective roles of both client and attorney in the legal process;
• Helping the client get organized for meetings with their attorney by clarifying questions and information needed for their meeting;
• Supporting the client in clarifying what is most important to them in the negotiation process and being able to communicate clearly and effectively that rationale.
• Responding faster to the requests from their attorney in the time sensitive and often pressured time frames for getting the work of the court done.

Personal Divorce Coaching fills a gap and works in a very practical AND transformative way with individual clients. The roll-up-your-sleeves kind of work that a CDC Certified Divorce Coach^® does helps the client in ways that are different from a Therapist, a Mediator, and an Attorney, and complements their work in helping the client to make the best decisions for their future.

Our role as a CDC Certified Divorce Coach^® is not to overstep our boundaries or make someone fit into our image of what we think should be done; rather it’s to support them in becoming the architect of their own life. From this point forward their decisions will be made solely on their own, rather than as a couple – help them lay the foundation for their future decisions by letting them take ownership of their new role.

With your help, they will be better prepared to communicate their wants and needs during the proceedings and into the future. In just 16 weeks you will have the skills, structure and know-how to make a profound difference in the lives of individuals and families by showing them a better way to go through divorce!