“Open Phones” As A Technique To Ease Transition/Visitation Problems Post-Divorce In my capacity as an outpatient psychologist, I have worked with children of all ages for over twenty years. Usually parents drag their kids into my office complaining of a litany of bad behaviors, ranging from not cleaning up their rooms, to getting bad grades, hitting their siblings, or worse, stealing, fighting or doing drugs. I work with parents to change their children’s behavior. It is very helpful for the parents to know their children’s experiences, especially after a divorce. This article addresses what the child thinks about the divorce and how they react, considering some fundamental needs. To help your child of almost any age tolerate separation from either parent, try giving them “open phone” privileges. This simply means the child can call the other parent at certain times of the day, or maybe at any time to “touch base,” “check in” or whatever. Please do not make this a control issue between the parent and child. Parents have a bad habit of curtailing or at least limiting the time their child talks to the other parent because they feel the child should now be spending time with them. [...]
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