OCA

Communication Post-Divorce Communicating with your ex-partner is not always the easiest thing in the world to do.  Often it depends on how you communicated during your relationship and what circumstances occurred for your relationship to finish.  For those that just fell out of ...

Legal context of social work in domestic violence Domestic violence laws in Australia are complicated as each State and Territory have different laws, which can make it difficult to understand what protection orders mean in different parts of the country.  The Queensland Parliament updated the...

What does coercive control look like? Coercive control is a tactic used by perpetrators of domestic and family violence that requires no physical contact with their victim.  They can use coercive control to isolate, stalk, harass and intimidate all through seemingly innocent means.  The aim of coe...

The Subtleties Of Domestic Violence Most people today have heard about domestic or family violence.  But usually what comes to mind is loud screaming, broken bones and bruised faces.  We expect to see the consequences of the domestic violence and without that visual evidence, it...

Ways to Have More Grateful Kids This Christmas   Christmas holidays are the most exciting part of the year. The build-up to it starts months earlier and in the end the excitement pays off in the form of gift giving. It’s a fine tradition, and kids are especially looking forward to it. On the ...

3 Things Single Parents Of Teens Must Do To Keep Sane No one ever claims being a single parent is easy and as single parents of teens you know this to especially be the case. In fact, media portrayals of single parenthood rarely glamourize it. Struggles with maintaining a balance between single life...

Boosting Confidence: A Parent's Guide for Supporting Children's Self-Esteem Even though at first thought self esteem seems like one of those things which we build as adults, the truth is that it is one of the most crucial “ingredients” of our personality which should develop from early childhood...

How can you keep your mind as healthy as possible during a separation? If you are reading this article, you are more than likely a parent who is trying to recover from a break-up. To keep with the theme of this month which is health, I’d love to talk to you about some of the ways you keep can keep...

HOW TO NURTURE A CHILD’S STRENGTH TO RELEASE THEIR FULL POTENTIAL   Each child is born with a unique gift, an a strength that they are great at. For parents, the key is to recognise and encourage this strength so that it enables the child to reach their true potential. I recently worked with Jane...

Last week we discussed the application for divorce. Some of you have said that you would like to get it checked by a lawyer. So this week I wanted to give you a quick tip…. (you can thank me for this one later )   If you don’t want to pay to see a lawyer in most places there will be a commu...

Applying for a divorce yourself?   First and foremost – I am not providing you with legal advice. All I am going to do is show you where to get the forms from so that if you are applying for a divorce yourself you can. Secondly however for my own protection you should always seek the advice o...

A Legal Coach - moving away from the traditional lawyer/client relationship This month we are looking at the concept of divorce (not child custody or property). To start I wanted to talk to you about a legal coach.   I was speaking to a lawyer recently and we were talking about the different of...

Happy Easter You would have noticed that this week there was no post on Monday. Well that’s because I wanted to save it until today! I wanted to wish you all a happy and safe Easter.   Some of you will be with your kids, enjoy the day and the joy that it brings for them. It can be easy to for...

Letting Go It is time to learn and accept that we cannot control everything With Easter being just around the corner it is the perfect time to start thinking about letting go, acknowledging and accepting what we can and cannot control. Each of us will have different views about what is and is not ac...

Feature Blog with Sara Ortiz Sara Ortiz is the creator of the Activity Book "Color Through Divorce" What is your name? Sara Woodard-Ortiz   How long have you been separated for? We were separated for 1.5 years. And have been divorced since the end of January.   How many children do you h...

This month we are shining the spotlight on Stacy Barrass! What is your name? Stacey Barrass, divorcee, mother of 3 ‘crazy’ boys, Managing Director of a domestic and commercial cleaning company; www.thedomesticgoddess.com.au and encourager of building self-esteem in women who have escaped from do...

This week we are talking about birthdays and in particular Your ex’s birthday Yes I know you are no longer in a relationship and I am not suggesting you continue to celebrate each others birthdays; this is about how your children celebrate and perceive their parent’s birthdays (i.e. your ex's bi...

Co parenting Adolescents Today we are talking about teenagers (aka adolescents). Adolescents can be difficult at the best of times, but when it comes to co parenting adolescents and trying to ensure that they spend time with both of you, life can become even more complicated. Adolescents as you know...

The power of music during times of change Achieving stability for your child whilst your family takes on a new form can be a challenging task, however with the right tools, it can be achieved. Music can be an extremely powerful tool during times of change. It can provide a platform to help your chil...

If your inbox is anything like mine it is going crazy with emails from mail lists that I cannot even remember handing over my details for.  Except for 1.  There is one email that I actually look forward to each week and it is from Alison Shaw of Shaw Mediation Australia.  This week without fail, ...