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Written by Susan Woodard
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 Divorce is an ongoing process in a person's life. As people pass through the different stages of divorce, their experiences are unique to their situations. There is no such thing as a typical divorce. All parents must strive to find out what works effectively for their individual family. When children are involved, the result does not have to end with a negative impact.
Co-parenting during and after a divorce helps to reassure children that the parental roles will continue. It applies to all parents whether they are married or divorced. The extent to which parents can effectively co-parent and refrain from conflict in the presence of their children greatly determines how children will adjust to the transitions associated with divorce. As most experts will agree, the continued conflict and disparaging of the other parent are the most harmful aspects of divorce and the most detrimental to children.
Becoming healthy, cooperative parents and working together for your children's sake is one of the most beneficial things that parents can do for their children. Parents who successfully transition from being a married couple to supportive divorced parents will be able to establish a healthy emotional environment for their children.
 During a divorce it is common for emotions to surface and very tempting to get caught in historical arguments. The end result is almost always hurtful and the focus on the children's best interest is often lost. Leave the issues of your marriage in the past to avoid the pain that lead to the divorce. Find ways to discuss your feelings and receive the support needed from family, friends or health professionals to help guide you through the difficult stages.  Taking the time to address your own needs will help your children. Children will feel more secure if they sense that their parents are emotionally healthy. Having healthy outlets for your own feelings will help you get through the divorce process successfully and alleviate some of the stress associated with it.
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Written by Watts McCray
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 By nature, divorce can be unpleasant. Add children to the mix and the situation becomes even more complex. It's not surprising, therefore that shared care and the legal arrangements for children after a divorce can be tricky.
The parenting arrangements for children involved in a divorce are decided under the 1975 Family Law Act, which currently presumes that both mother and father will share the responsibilities of parenthood. This means that both parents will be involved in decisions regarding the wellbeing of the child when it comes to issues such as education, health, housing, and religion.
If you're navigating the unfamiliar waters of custody laws and parenting arrangements, then here are a few basic but useful things to know about parenting arrangements for children.
- Child's best interest. It's important to remember that all decisions regarding children when a marriage breaks up are decided in the best interests of the child.
- What role does the Court play? The Court only becomes involved if parenting arrangements cannot be agreed to by both parents. The Court can legally determine where a child is to live and how much time is to be spent between parents. It is a divorce lawyer's job, however, to do everything they can to avoid the need to go to Court.
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Written by John McMahon
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 Often people who live with an alcoholic spend much if, not all, of their time looking after the drinker. They worry about when he will arrive home, even if he will arrive home. They worry about what condition he will be in when he arrives home, whether he will be in a good mood or spoiling for a fight. It is a wonder that anyone living with an alcoholic has time to do anything else, other than see to their drinker.
Organisations such as Al-anon rightly suggest that anyone who lives with an alcoholic needs to detach. That is they need to stand back from the alcoholic and let him lead his own life. That means worrying about him less, stopping clearing up after him and no longer making excuses for him and generally letting him experience the consequences of his drinking.  Agreed this is not an easy thing to do, especially if you have been caught up in his drinking for some years.
One thing that may help is to ensure that you have a life of your own. As many people who live with alcoholics do, you may have been covering for your alcoholic and ensuring that the world does not know of your problems. This wall of secrecy is a double edged sword. On the one hand it protects you from the shame and stigma of the problem drinking behaviour. It hides the worst of the anguish, arguments and anxiety but it also cuts you off from the very people that can help, your friends.
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Written by Amy Twain
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 There will come a time in your life that you might be given the chance or opportunity to help or comfort somebody who has lost a loved one or even a beloved pet, work through their grief and loss. Treat the person who is experiencing grief and loss as you would also want to be treated if you were in their situation.
Some individuals react and cope to loss in some different ways: some might break down and cry, some may become too withdrawn or some may fall into a deep state of depression, all but unable to function their usual daily activities. So, as a friend, what can you do-- here are a
few tips:
1. If you are acquainted with friends or relatives of the bereaved who might be coming into town for the funeral, try offering to let them stay at your home in the meantime.  It is quite difficult to convey what a heavy burden is lifted from the griever not to have guests in their homes to take care and worry about.
You can also offer to run daily errands, volunteer to answer the phone, or go to the grocery store or the post office.
2. If the bereaved simply wants to talk and converse about their grief, listen. For most people, this can be a big help. This may be the one thing you could do to help which helps more than you would ever know or imagine.
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Written by David Congreave
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 Living with an addict of any kind is always difficult, especially when you love them and they are part of your family. Addictive behaviour is very destructive and the addict can unwittingly ruin the life of their loved ones.
It's enormously difficult to live with someone who is dependent on something that is ultimately killing them, socially or physically. The pain of it is too much for most people. As the addiction takes hold, a rift can be created in the family unit.
Because you don't want them to indulge their addiction, you will either try to prevent it or unwillingly enable it. But how do you figure out how to help them?  Is what you're doing enabling their behaviour? Living with an addict is a tricky business. As their disease progresses, they become more manipulative and this is never good for the person who loves them.
Addicts often become highly deceptive, even if the rest of the time they are honest and dependable. They deny where they have been and what they were doing even after you already know the truth. This behaviour causes the family involved a lot of shame and anger.
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