Each year over one million marriages end in divorce in the United States. When divorce happens, people feel alone and wonder how anyone else lived through it. SMILE, Start Making It Livable for Everyone, is an educational program for separating/divorced parents with minor children.
The developers of this program have worked with hundreds of divorcing families having difficulties with time sharing, parenting roles, and other divorce-related issues. This program will provide some information about the effects of divorce and what parents can do to make the divorce situation livable.
Both parents are required to attend the SMILE program.
The three goals of the SMILE program are:
- to provide information to help parents better understand the effects of divorce;
- to help parents understand the needs of their children; and
- to promote children's healthy adjustment to divorce.
Because each divorce and family situation is unique, parents are encouraged to consult other resources available including psychological services, legal services, support groups, emergency services, court mediation services, conflict resolution and mediation agencies, and books or articles relating to divorce.