This is a guest post by Marta Muranyi, practice manager of Relationships Scotland Family Mediation Tayside and Fife.

A new service that aims to provide support to people experiencing difficulties arising from separation or divorce has been launched in Dundee.

Relationships Scotland Family Mediation Tayside and Fife is now offering divorce and separation coaching, in a bid to help individuals experiencing difficulties gain a future focus.

The organisation is piloting the scheme in Dundee, in the hope it will be rolled out across Scotland.

Separation and divorce coach Angela Gatford described the new service as “fantastic”. She said: “Divorce is a little bit like when you go through bereavement. You go through all the same emotions of shock and anger and sadness. Quite often one person is focused and know they want out, while the other has just been told and feels like they have had the rug pulled from under them.”

The new service has been set up to help people going through a separation look to the future. Angela said: “Many people think the service is counselling, but it is different. Counselling enables the person to gain insight into how past experiences and choices have affected them and explore these with the view to developing new strategies, whereas coaching is very much looking forward and focusing on how they want to get there. When it works it is fantastic because it actually gives people their lives back. They have the power, but they have just lost their way and sometimes people lose sight of where they want to be. So, it is about refocusing on themselves. When we work with somebody we are not giving them answers. They just get the space to work out what is going on in their own heads.”

Separation and divorce have a serious impact on children and the coaching is designed to help people who are often parents.

Angela said: “Sometimes when the person gets lost they can’t be there for the child as they are cocooned in the hurt and pain. The impact is like a ripple and their children and their friends feel it. This service gives them the strength to move on.”

Bill Muir, manager of Relationships Scotland Family Mediation Tayside and Fife, welcomed the new service. He said: “People going through the service get a real benefit from it, and it shows there are options and ways forward. It has started in Dundee, but it could be rolled out across Tayside and Fife. “The plan is to hopefully roll it out across Scotland.”

2 Comments

  1. simon_castro_flores on October 12, 2012 at 1:20 am

    Nice post you have..I just went to a depressing situation. Me and my dear GF got our own ways and I need help. Thankfully I also have read a book from fixmarriageandrelationships.com and I am on a recovery stage. But I wont limit myself in finding answers.

  2. David Woodward on November 15, 2012 at 11:09 pm

    This looks really good. I am a marriage and couple counsellor who also does family, individual and skype counselling. Ironically enough, because of a difficult step-family situation we have (six teenagers inc. two with ADHD) my wife and I are now ‘living apart together’ (yes – the new acronymn if you haven’t already come across it – we are a LAT couple!). I know firsthand the pains and tests and tribulations of married life and I have a real heart for couples to make it. If they unfortunately can’t, they need as much help, love, care and support to help them through the painful things that divorce/separation will bring.I wish everybody well in this new venture. Bless you. David Woodward (www.resolvecounselling.net)

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