Children of Divorce by Dr. James Dobson

June 2-3, 2021
Guest: Dr. Arch Hart

Part 1
While divorce is painful for the couple, it can haunt the children caught in the middle for a lifetime. Author of Helping Children Survive Divorce, Dr. Arch Hart, was traumatized at the age of 12 when his parents divorced. As a therapist, he first advises parents to be honest with their kids about why they’re divorcing. Second, parents should seek healing quickly since it’s difficult to give kids First Aid when you’re bleeding yourself. Third, invite kids to talk about their emotions. Arch encourages those in the midst of a divorce to make great effort to maintain as much normalcy as possible for the children’s sake.

Part 2
90% of children from divorced homes suffer from an acute sense of shock. And one-third of kids fear abandonment by the remaining parent. Compounding this, 37% of children are even more unhappy five years after the divorce than they had been at 18 months. Time clearly doesn't heal all wounds. Dr. Arch Hart, author of Helping Children Survive Divorce, declares that divorce, after a relationship has been established and the nuclear family has been forged, is actually more damaging to a child than the death of a parent.