How Therapy Can Support Parents and Co-Parents After Separation or Divorce

Separation and divorce are not only legal processes—they are profound emotional transitions. For parents, these changes can bring grief, fear, anger, relief, uncertainty, and a deep concern about how children will be affected. When co-parenting is difficult or ongoing conflict is present, the emotional toll can intensify, often leaving parents feeling overwhelmed, depleted, or stuck in survival mode.

Therapy can play a meaningful role in supporting parents and co-parents as they navigate parenting after separation or divorce, whether the relationship with the other parent is cooperative, strained, or persistently conflictual.

Therapy as a Space for Stabilization

In the early stages of separation or during prolonged legal proceedings, many parents are operating under chronic stress. Therapy can offer a stabilizing space to slow things down, regulate heightened emotions, and make sense of what is happening internally and externally.

Rather than focusing on assigning blame or relitigating the relationship, therapy helps parents:

• Process grief, loss, and identity shifts

• Understand stress responses and trauma triggers

• Reduce emotional reactivity

• Strengthen emotional regulation and coping skills

  
  

This stabilization is often essential before more effective co-parenting decisions can be made.

Supporting Parenting Capacity During Transition

Parenting after separation often requires learning new roles, routines, and boundaries—sometimes while navigating significant conflict with the other parent. Therapy can help parents reconnect with their values and parenting goals, even when circumstances feel chaotic or unfair.

In therapy, parents can:

• Clarify their parenting priorities

• Identify what their child needs emotionally and developmentally

• Learn strategies to remain emotionally available and predictable

• Repair and strengthen the parent–child relationship after stress or disruption

• Regain confidence in their own parenting skills and sense of self

  
  

For many children, having at least one emotionally attuned, regulated parent is a powerful protective factor.

Navigating Co-Parenting and Conflict

When co-parenting is challenging, therapy does not aim to “fix” the other parent or force cooperation where it may not be possible. Instead, it focuses on helping parents manage what is within their control.

Therapeutic support can assist parents in:

• Understanding conflict patterns and escalation cycles

• Setting and maintaining boundaries

• Communicating in ways that reduce reactivity

• Deciding when disengagement or parallel parenting may be appropriate

  
  

In situations often labeled as “high conflict,” therapy can help parents move away from constant vigilance and toward a more contained, sustainable way of coping.

Coping With Prolonged Stress and Legal Processes

Ongoing custody disputes, court involvement, or repeated conflict can take a significant toll on mental health. Therapy can provide ongoing support for parents coping with:

• Chronic anxiety or hypervigilance

• Emotional exhaustion or burnout

• Feelings of powerlessness or injustice

• Difficulty trusting systems meant to protect children

  
  

Therapy can also help parents stay grounded and intentional, rather than reactive, during lengthy legal processes.

Shifting the Focus Back to the Child

One of the most important roles of therapy in post-separation parenting is helping parents consistently re-center the child’s well-being. This includes:

• Supporting age-appropriate emotional conversations

• Helping parents validate children’s feelings without placing them in the middle

• Reducing children’s exposure to adult conflict

• Strengthening emotional safety within the parent–child relationship

  
  

Even when co-parenting conflict does not resolve, these efforts can significantly reduce harm to children.

Therapy Is Not About Winning

For many parents, therapy is not about achieving the “ideal” co-parenting relationship. Instead, it is about harm reduction, emotional sustainability, and maintaining one’s capacity to parent well under difficult circumstances.

Therapy can help parents accept what cannot be changed, grieve what was hoped for, and focus energy where it matters most: their own well-being and their relationship with their child.

A Supportive Resource Through Change

Every family’s situation is different. Therapy does not offer one-size-fits-all solutions, but it can provide thoughtful, individualized support that helps parents navigate separation, divorce, and co-parenting with greater clarity, resilience, and compassion—for themselves and for their children.

Written by Garion Sparks-Austin Registered Social Worker, Psychotherapist Founder & Director of Co & Associates

ABOUT Garion Sparks-Austin, RSW

Garion Sparks-Austin is a Registered Social Worker in Ontario with a long-standing professional background in child welfare and child protection. Prior to establishing her private practice, Garion worked extensively with children and families navigating complex, high-stakes relational and safety concerns, where nuanced assessment, clinical judgment, and child-centred decision-making were essential.

Her work has been deeply informed by an ability to assess and understand complex relational dynamics, the impact of trauma, and the ways in which lived experience, identity, mental health, and intersecting needs shape parenting and co-parenting relationships. This foundation allowed her to develop a strong professional reputation for supporting families navigating conflict, uncertainty, and systems that often feel overwhelming and adversarial.

In private practice, Garion continues to support parents coping with the emotional and psychological stressors of separation and divorce, custody and access disputes, and prolonged involvement in the family court process. Her approach is grounded in compassion, realism, and a strong focus on children’s emotional and developmental needs—particularly in situations where conflict is ongoing and resolution feels elusive.

Garion’s work emphasizes harm reduction, emotional safety, and helping parents remain a stabilizing and protective presence for their children, even in the midst of complex and prolonged family transitions.

DISCLAIMER

The information shared in this blog is intended for educational and informational purposes only. It is not legal advice, clinical diagnosis, or a substitute for individualized mental health or legal support.

Co-parenting dynamics—particularly those often described as “high conflict”—are complex and highly individualized.

Parenting arrangements, safety planning, and interventions must be considered within the unique context of each family, including the child’s developmental stage, emotional needs, and specific risk factors.

Nothing in this content should be interpreted as an assessment of any individual parent’s mental health, nor as an opinion regarding any specific family law matter. Mental health diagnoses alone are not determinative in Ontario family law; courts focus on functioning, impact, safety, and the best interests of the child.

If you are navigating separation, divorce, or parenting disputes, it is strongly recommended that you seek guidance from qualified professionals, including:

• A family law lawyer familiar with Ontario legislation

• A regulated mental health professional

• Other appropriate child-focused or legal supports

If you have immediate concerns about a child’s safety or well-being, contact local child protection services or emergency services as appropriate.