Children of Divorce Parents Group Manual

Author

Sheyenne HokitFollow

Date of Award

Spring 4-28-2022

Document Type

Project (696 or 796 registration)

Degree Name

Master of Science in Counseling

Department

Graduate Studies

Committee Chair

Jessica Brown

Keywords

adolescents, divorce, emotional regulation

Abstract

Divorce is something that is, unfortunately, becoming a commonality for a lot of children, and due to the complexity of divorce, many children struggle when trying to understand divorce and how it affects them. Some effects of divorce are various emotional and behavioral issues such as increased anger and decreased emotion regulation. Social, health, and academic concerns were also found. Counseling interventions like narrative therapy, emotion-focused family therapy, emotion-focused therapy, and play therapy were found to be effective with this population (Hirschfeld & Wittenborn, 2016, Thomas & Gibbons, 2009). The identified interventions provide peer-based social support, education on the misconceptions of divorce to help understand it, teach problem-solving skills, emotion regulation, and enhance a youth’s positive regard for themselves and others (Kress et al., 2019). The Children of Divorce Parents Group aims to help reduce the effects of divorce, specifically focusing on the behavioral and emotional issues associated with divorce. This group curriculum is ten weeks in length and meets for an hour each session. Emotion-Focused Therapy and Cognitive Behavioral Therapy is provided to help the members recognize their emotions and misconceptions of divorce. Other interventions will include peer-based social support, teach problem-solving skills, and emotion regulation.

Recommended Citation

Hokit, Sheyenne, "Children of Divorce Parents Group Manual" (2022). Dissertations, Theses, and Projects. 646.
https://red.mnstate.edu/thesis/646