Dr. Judith Gerhart, CFP
Certified Divorce Financial Analyst 
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Divorce and the Death of your Relationship
June 23, 2009
Divorce is, essentially, the “death of a relationship” and requires a certain grieving process. It is also a time when one should take an “inventory” of his or her life.
They say the psychological processing of death has certain stages. Like death, divorce also has comparable grieving stages.
Elizabeth Kubler-Ross, world renowned for her grief loss model, and an expert on death and the stages of dying, enlightens us that there are five stages to death and dying: Denial, Anger, Bargaining, Depression and finally, Acceptance. A parallel look at divorce sets out an equivalent to each stage:
- Denial - of the divorce because one is unable to admit to themselves that the marriage is over and that they will suffer the loss divorce represents;
- Anger - by which the pain of loss is often projected onto others (in the case of divorce, this is usually demonstrated in the form of an “angst” towards the opposite sex, overall);
- Bargaining - which represents a last ditch effort to hold onto the relationship even when the impending death is imminent.
- Depression - when the reality or imminent divorce strikes them; and,
- Acceptance - if and when one comes to grips with the reality of the divorce and makes preparation for it by moving forward.
By: Corinne Frontiero
Posted by Judith Gerhart on June 23, 2009 | Permalink | Post a comment
