Rosemary Savage, a leading Matrimonial Solicitor with thirty years experience in the field of family law and mediation and senior partner of Hampstead and Welwyn Garden City-based law firm, R A Savage & Co, explores the benefits of life coaching and relationship breakdown therapy for those faced with the inevitable psychological effects of family breakdown and separation.
“As family lawyers, my colleagues and I are attuned to the fact that divorce is a time of immense stress and anxiety for those persons concerned. When faced with the turmoil and reality of separation and consequential family breakdown, it often becomes apparent when a client displays the characteristics of feeling that they are losing their sense of personal identity. Clients find themselves battling the feeling of insecurity about their future and whether they will ever feel able to move on with their lives and form new relationships.
In some cases, coupled with such anxieties is the feeling of stress with having to engage with lawyers and the court process, which is a daunting experience whatever a person’s circumstances.
Resolution the national organisation of Family Lawyers, of which my colleagues and I are members, is committed to the constructive resolution of family disputes and describes divorce and separation as being on the life events scale ranking above imprisonment,
retirement, redundancy and only just below the death of a spouse.
When conducting a client’s case, it can often initially be difficult to take instructions and advise as they will often be encountering the feeling of bereavement as a reaction to changes and the loss of either a partner and/or contact with their child/children.
When met with a client challenged by the emotional turmoil of family breakdown, lawyers often have to consider whether a client is ready and/or in the right frame of mind to pursue legal proceedings or, alternatively, it may be more appropriate for a client to seek the aid of medical advice offered by their respective GP and/or counselling, life coaching, relationship breakdown therapy.
The decision as to this is, of course, that of the client, but in my experience, such assistance can be invaluable and helps to make the process much more manageable for the client with long-term benefits.
We all at R A Savage & Co have witnessed first-hand those clients who have defeated their past psychological barriers as a result of having sought the aid of life coaching and relationship breakdown therapy in particular.
I cannot emphasise enough the importance of lawyers consciously exploring whether there is a need for such aids in all cases, and I echo the following words from Resolution;”
“To be professional is not to, as Lawyers, deny our own emotional reactions exist but rather to understand them and deal with them in such a way that our reaction with, and advice given to, our clients remains objective, constructive and truly in the client’s best
interest”.
Rosemary A Savage LL B
Proprietor of R A Savage & Co Solicitors