As I was preparing to speak at the National Association of Social Workers California Chapter conference, it occurred to me that, nowhere in my education had I ever taken or even seen a course on divorce offered.
I took classes on death and dying, bereavement, children of divorce, marriage, and relationships, but I had never formally learned about marital dissolution from the adult's perspective.
Curious about it, I asked my class of 25 or so counselors if they had ever taken or seen a class on divorce and all shook their heads no.
I went on line to research whether there might be any Colleges or Universities offering psychology classes on divorce. Other than some brief references to the topic, I could not find any classes devoted solely to this topic.
Given how prevalent (and often devastating) an occurrence divorce is, I am astounded that there is not more education about it offered in psychology or social work programs.
In the three hours I had to talk about the divorce realm (from contemplation to post-divorce issues) I felt that I barely scratched the surface. There was much more I could have said and much more I'm sure the students wanted to know and/or discuss.
Law School students have classes specifically about Family Law (which is an entire branch of the law) and Contracts. They learn about the legal contract of marriage, about pre and post nuptial agreements, community property versus equitable distribution, fault and no-fault laws, paternity, palimony, child custody, child support, and on and on.
Financial professionals also receive a good amount of education on divorce matters given that a predictable part of their job will be to assist divorcing clients with tax issues, division of assets and debts, financial planning, and budgeting.
Therapists, on the other hand, receive relatively little schooling on divorce. As one of the NASW conference students astutely noted, we [therapists] learn either from personal experience or we get on-the-job-training from our clients.
For better or worse, the field of divorce is expanding. In my nearly eleven years of working with divorcing people, I have seen the number of resources available increase.
There are now more divorce options for couples - self-representation, mediation, collaborative and the traditional litigation. There are more counseling and informational programs to help people get through this tough time. There is more acceptance that divorce as a social phenomenon that is here to stay.
What I believe is still lacking, however, is sufficient formal education for those of us who pick up the emotional, mental and psychological pieces for the divorcing couple, the child(ren) of divorce, or the family that has dissolved.
