Why us?
Why create the Better Divorce Course?
Our core belief is that as long as one of you is consistently willing to make the effort to reduce the pressures of the divorce process and all that that entails, the divorce will be better. And we believe that by thinking about what you want your life to look like after the changes that follow divorce and relationship breakdown, you are more likely to get a better outcome.
We have created a course that will help you achieve this. Our aim is to empower you to be able to have a better divorce relationship transition and to take ownership of the process., The choices that you make during the divorce/separation process will be more important than what your lawyer or your friends tell you or how you feel right now.
Purpose
What is the purpose of the Better Divorce Course?
The purpose of the course is for you to achieve a “better divorce” than you would if you weren’t on the course. It will help you to:
01.
Transition to a life which comes after divorce/separation
02.
Do what is best for any children in your family
03.
Reduce the emotional and financial cost of the divorce/separation process
01.
Transition to a life which comes after divorce
02.
Do what is best for any children in your family
03.
Reduce the emotional and financial cost of the divorce process
How it works
What will you do on the course?
- Learn about the divorce/separation process
- Approach divorce in terms of six key areas (children, home, finances, career, interests and relationships);
- Learn how to look after yourself during the divorce process by building your resilience;
- Define goals and plans as you move through the divorce process;
- Increase belief that you can achieve your goals and execute your plans;
- Join a network of people who are also experiencing divorce or separation and who can support and challenge you.
How it works
What will it be like on the course?
- We believe that most people are more capable than they realise of working out their goals for the divorce process and how best to achieve them.
- The course is informative and has a structure but it’s not all “divorce lessons”. Everyone in the room will have valuable information and experience to share.
- We assume people on the course will collaborate and interact.
- What people get out of the course will depend on how they prepare and turn up for each meeting; and what you do after the meetings.
Details
What are the practical details?
The Better Divorce Course is a 6 part, small group course held over 6 weeks. We are not currently running any courses.
The course is offered in two ways:
Face to Face
Face to face sessions in Chelmsford are currently not taking place and all sessions are being delivered online via Zoom.
Over video
The courses are delivered to small groups using the Zoom video conference system.
The Team
Who runs the course?
The course is run by the people who designed it:
Together, they offer a combination of transformative coaching and legal knowledge in the family law that will arm you with the ability to take control of your divorce. Because ultimately, this is about you and what you can do about making your future better.
Executive Coach & Facilitator
Jonny Searle
Jonny Searle is an Executive coach and facilitator who spent many years working in business as a lawyer. Jonny has been divorced himself. He strongly believes in the ability of people to look after themselves, create their own happiness and to work collaboratively to find better outcomes after the breakdown of relationships.
Family Law Solicitor
Shalaleh Barlow
Shalaleh Barlow is a Family Law Solicitor at Central Law CIC, the only not for profit law firm in the country. She is also a trained Mediator as well as being a “child of divorce” herself. In addition to her legal practice, Shalaleh campaigns for the rights of children to have a family life with both parents.
What people say
Testimonials
Testimonial
Course User
“The BDC is a really informative programme which helped clarify many concerns I had about the divorce process and which addresses both practical and personal aspects of divorce, step by step. Jonny, Shalaleh and Katherine provide a valuable and supportive space to connect and share experiences as part of the journey.”
Testimonial
Course User
This course has really helped me – just having people who understand and are both able to lend an empathetic ear as well advise when needed. I cannot thank everyone enough for the work that has gone into putting this together and I would recommend it to anyone going through this. You’re amazing, thank you.”
Testimonial
Course User
“The course has been so helpful giving you both the legal approach as well as the personal experiences and potential resolutions from all sides of the process. The support network that has also been built up through the course has been so important for me.”
2019
Court Facts
54,920
private children’s law cases (disputes over children that do not involve the local authority), which on average took 29 weeks to final order. From that figure assume that is over 100,000 children involved in litigation just starting that year. These cases are in addition to those children already in the Court system.
266,059
cases started in the family court.
57 weeks
The average divorce took 57 weeks from Petition to Decree Absolute (i.e. when the marriage is dissolved)
19%
Only 19% of cases had both litigants represented at Court. The rest were litigants in person.
Contact us
How do I join the course?
Write to us at: info@betterdivorcecourse.org if you are interested in finding out more information. Please note that spaces are limited.