After divorce, what can I do to make a healthy transition?

After going through the “real life” upheaval and anxiety of a divorce, with all its life changes, emotional angst, and monetary expenses, we come to a point where we want to go forward, open new doors to our future, and honor the difficult journey taken that includes the good and bad, happy and sad, and yet got us to this very place in our lives. As we stand on the precipice of our future and look out to the horizon, we want to chart a new course, even if we don’t know all it will entail. After a divorce, what we need most is the feeling of renewed hope for a better future and understanding and love from our community. As the director and co-founder of the Celebrant Foundation & Institute, a worldwide organization that certifies people to become Celebrants and has been pioneering personalized ceremonies for over 40 years, I would recommend a Divorce Ceremony to everyone that has been through this life trauma as a satisfying method to consciously honor this major life transition.

An authentic and meaningful ceremony is essential to the health and well being of divorced people as well as their family and friends. Our society honors weddings, birthdays, and funerals; a divorce or uncoupling ceremony is not a common practice and yet should be and could be. A Divorce Ceremony would allow an “honoree” the opportunity to bring their close friends and family together and help them pay homage to this milestone life transition in a positive way. It offers an “honoree” the unique ability to express themselves to their close community about the hopes and dreams for their future and allows them to honor the very special people in their life that have been by their side. When children are part of the relationship, it is a healthy way to communicate to them directly that even though their parents are no longer “married” they are still (all) “family”. A Divorce Ceremony marks this moment in one’s life in a thoughtful and genuine way. It communicates to family and friends that as a divorced person, you honor the past, and that the path going forward to the future includes their continued and valued love and support. A Divorce Ceremony or Un-Coupling Ceremony can be simple and take place in a restaurant, under a tree at park, or at in someone’s home, but what it does for people is anything but simple. A Divorce Ceremony empowers people that have been through the devastation of divorce or separation to be able to see the light, have faith in themselves and others, and be open to all the joy life has to offer. I know this first hand, because I had a Divorce Ceremony that helped change my life.

Charlotte Eulette is the North American Director of the Celebrant Foundation, a 501c3 non-profit organization with 400 Celebrants who create and officiate at virtually every life-cycle event, including divorces.