For parents and families

twowishes

Here, we will be sharing help, advice and information for parents and families: short videos that may help you decide what to do, or understand what you’re feeling; links for people and organisations you can speak with, or where you can go for help.

Our Help pages are being regularly updated and expanded. Please share with us any additional resources, useful links or ways to make these pages more useful to more people. Thank you.

Resources for parents and families

Are you or your family under stress or going through a family separation? Here, we will be producing and sharing resources from many organisations aimed at helping you through.

If you’re going through, or thinking about, separation or divorce, you know your own situation best. But, it can be suddenly new and stressful. So you may need some help to work out what’s best for your children while looking after your own health and wellbeing.

Throughout this site, you’ll find videos on various aspects of parenting and we will provide links to an increasingly wide range of resources to help in all circumstances, from the birth of a child to the stresses of family life or family separation. Click on the Parent tab on any post to find the most relevant posts for parents and families.

Some of this information is universally applicable for parents and families, wherever you are. Some differs according to the country or region in which you are. By clicking on the flags on the Get Help page, you will find information specific to individual countries.

What you need to know: what about Aruna?

Produced in the UK, this series of four videos presented by Two Wishes board member Dr Angharad Rudkin helps separating parents understand what it’s like for their kids and how best to look after themselves.

This guide on parenting through separation is relevant for parents in many parts of the world:

https://resolution.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/Parenting-through-separation-guide.pdf

Have we forgotten how to parent?

Author, journalist and mum, Michaeleen Doucleff, challenges our views on how to parent and offers practical advice that parents have known for millennia.

Communicating with our kids

Tips for inviting open communication with our kids.

For parents with kids or teens

Hey Sigmund provides a treasure-trove of parent-friendly information on a whole range of subjects, including building courage in kids and teens and how to help deal with anxiety and other pressures faced by the younger generation.

‘The House Model’ – A New Way to Think About Anxiety, Regulation, Relationships and Connection (Video)

This US website brings together some valuable resources for parents and other family members going through a family separation and wanting the best possible outcomes for children. When parents are preoccupied with the stress of a divorce or separation, children are often left unsupported at a time when they need support the most. Scientific studies tell us that kids do best when they – and their parents – have strong support networks.

See it differently

“You don’t see your arguments. Your kids do. Change what they see.”

Four short videos (for anyone) to show you why and how to do things better.

https://www.seeitdifferently.org

Plus lots more including Get More Help (UK)

https://www.seeitdifferently.org/get-more-help

https://www.heysigmund.com/category/with-others/when-a-relationship-breaks/

Are you actually ready for a divorce?

Mediators, Bruce Derman and Wendy Gregson, pose 8 questions of couples for them to work out if they’re really ready for a divorce or family separation.

This article outlines what couples need to do in order to face the numerous dilemmas that are inherent in divorce. A dilemma implies that you are torn between two choices, each of which have undesirable fearful elements. If people have not resolved their dilemmas before the divorce, they go through the process trying to manage their fear in different ways by hiding their doubt, responsibility; vulnerability, or dependency.

What to expect when you’re separating

Understanding the stages of separation
[link to full article]

“As family, relationship and child therapists, we work with people at different milestones in the jouney through grief, daily. When someone is stuck at a particularly tricky phase, they can be difficult to converse with as they are dealing with contradictory forces of protectiveness, grief, insecurity, desperation and perhaps logic. They also have the nagging awareness that time is seldom on their side when they have to make arrangements for their children that will have life-changing implications.

Co-parenting after separating

Co-Parenting – How to Co-Operate with Your Ex to Protect Your Child

Apps to help your family after separation

Apps, available online or on your mobile/cellphone, can really help parents coordinate busy lives when you’re together. If you’re going through a separation, they can make all the difference to the wellbeing of your children.

Here are a couple of reviews of current apps:

https://beanstalkmums.com.au/best-co-parenting-apps-2020/

https://www.parents.com/parenting/best-co-parenting-apps/

Five things about domestic abuse

5 Things You Need To Know About Domestic Abuse

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