1 Divorce as a Family Transition Interventions for Divorced Parents and Children

Demographic and psychological studies show that children and adults from divorced families utilise professional counselling two to three times more frequently than members coming from intact families to cope with problems in connection with separation and divorce. Research on divorce has well documented the consequences of separation and divorce for children and parents (Amato & Booth, 1997; Fthenakis, 1995a, 1995b; Fthenakis et al., 1982; Hetherington, 1999; Lamb et al., 1999; Thompson & Laible, 1999; Thompson & Amato, 1999). During the last ten years a new paradigm regarding the phenomenon of divorce has been introduced which shows that a divorce is not the end of a family, but leads to its reorganisation. Recently the Family-Transition Approach and the Risk and Resiliency Perspective have contributed towards reconceptualizing the phenomenon of divorce as a transition phase in the process of family development. These approaches have provided a theoretical base which is proving to be increasingly helpful for the development and evaluation of intervention measures before, during, and after divorce.