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Sharon Shenker - Matrimonial/Divorce Coach

Offering world-wide specialized help!
Online/Phone/Face-to-Face

I am dedicated to helping prevent family breakdowns, but when I can’t accomplish that I will help my client(s) maneuver through, adjust to, heal from, and thrive despite their separation or divorce… with as little damage or baggage as possible.

The services I offer, are:
*personal growth & development
*premarital preparation
*relationship enhancement
*divorce prevention
*separation, divorce coaching
*creating co-parenting plans
*co-operative parenting
*recovery/moving on
*single parenting
*dating again, trust issues
*premarital preparation
*blending families

Degrees and Qualifications:
E.C.E.: Early Childhood Eduacator
F.L.E.: Family Life Educator
B.A.: Human Relations (Honors)
M.B.T.I.: Myers-Briggs Type Indicator Consultant
C.V.B.C.: Certified Vision Board Coach
Satir Family Therapy
Reunification Therapy
... and Qualified Ceramics Teacher


Because of verbal and emotional abuse and escalating violence,I had to get a divorce many (many!) years ago, when I was 27, and my daughters had just turned two and four years old. After a few years, their father stopped seeing them so I raised them on own, even while going to university. One of them became a paralegal for a family law firm and the other a Youth Worker, working with children in group homes. Since then, my older daughter married, stopped working as a paralegal, and is now a stay-at-home Mom, raising my adorable grandson... thanks to her great husband!

I believe in families sticking together when they can, with each person equally empowered and emotionally well-adjusted – so that they can independently and interdependently become the best that they can be! I also believe that when two people have tried everything possible to improve their relationship connection but one still wants to leave, they must do so in a manner that does not hurt any children involved.

Since opening Divorce Support Plus, in 1999, I have proudly saved many marriages and prevented even more wars!

My motto is “family reconstruction not family destruction!”

My passion is to save and repair relationships by helping couples rekindle their love connection, but if that isn’t possible, I work with as many members of the family as is possible to prevent or end the wars that so commonly destroy families of separation or divorce. My goal is to assist each member of every family that comes to me to heal, grow, and thrive thereby preventing parental alienation... but if a family comes to me after P.A. has begun I can work with the family to build a healthy co-parenting relationship and rebuild the parent-child relationship. I am even training in Reunification Therapy to help a family that is suffering from Parental Alienation Syndrome.

On a lighter note, if the family is uncomfortable with sitting and talking about their feelings, needs and wants... I also do Play 'n Talk sessions that involve the family/couple/parent-child in creative play activities while chatting with me and among themselves. It is so much lighter and more fun!!



You can view my websites at
www.lovingtherightways.com
www.divorcesupportplus.ca

Or telephone me directly at 514-804-3585

Parental Alienation Syndrome, Part Three

PAS Q & A, Part Three
(copied from a Parental Alienation Awareness Organization handout)

PARENTAL ALIENATION
Undermining and interfering with a normal child-parent bond.

Raising Awareness of Parental Alienation and Hostile Aggressive Parenting



Because most people do not know about PA until they experience it, the idea of Parental Alienation Awareness Organization was put forth to help raise awareness and provide education about this growing problem of mental and emotional child abuse.
Our goal is to educate the general public, schools, police, mental health counselors, religious leaders, as well as the perpetrators who may be unaware of the effect of alienating behaviors, and how these behaviors harm children. Our goal is education. We believe that with education comes understanding, and the will and power to stop the emotional and mental abuse of children.

HOW CAN YOU HELP A CHILD AND HIS/HER REJECTED PARENT?

If you are a teacher, counsellor, coach, clergyman, parent of the child’s friend, friend, or family member:

 Listen to the child, without negating what the child is saying, regardless of how outlandish it may be (that is the child’s reality) and then encourage the child to hear the rejected parent’s point of view. Appeal to the child’s maturity by saying that is the way mature people handle conflicts.
 Appeal to the child’s intellect by encouraging him/her to carefully consider ideas or statements that are blatantly false or outlandish.
 Point out to the child how persuasive advertising can influence a person’s thinking and try to relate that to the child’s thinking about the rejected parent.
 Look for books or movies that can stimulate discussion about the importance of two parents and the sadness of having only one parent.
 Look for opportunities to provide positive input about the targeted parent.

To find out more about Parental Alienation Awareness Organization, see www.PAAwareness.org

The information provided in some of the series have been based in part on the following works:

Baker, A.J.L. (2007). Adult children of parental alienation syndrome: Break the ties that bind. NY:W.W.Norton

Clawar, S.S. & Rivlan, B. (1991). Children held hostage: Dealing with programmed and brainwashed children. Chicago, IL:American Bar Association.

Darnall, D. (1998). Divorce Casualties: Protecting your children from parental alienation. Lanham, MI:Taylor Trade.

Rand, D., Rand, R., & Kopetski, L. (2005). The Spectrum of Parental Alienation Syndrome Part 111: The Kopetski Follow-up Study. American Journal of Forensic Psychology, 23(1), 15-43.

Warshak, R. (2001). Divorce Poison: Protecting the parent-child bond from a vindictive ex. NY:HarperCollins.