Brighter Days Blog

If you're in the middle of a high-conflict separation, you'll recognise this without me having to describe it in detail. You check your phone for messages from them. You replay conversations. You anticipate the next problem before it arrives. And somewhere in all of that, you get lost. At some point, almost every client I work with asks the same question: when does this stop being my whole life?

Most people going into family court proceedings assume the system is a leveller. That if you tell the truth, present your evidence and follow the rules, things will work out reasonably. And often, they do. But for some people and particularly those dealing with a controlling or high-conflict ex, the legal process becomes another arena for exactly the same behaviour they've been living with at home. Not because the system is broken, but because it can be used by someone who k

There's a quiet practice happening in some separating families that rarely makes headlines, but it's become common enough that the Family Justice Council issued specific guidance against it last month: parents asking their children to record the other parent. A phone left running in a school bag. A child gently prompted to "remember what Dad says" or "tell me if Mum seems upset." If it sounds extreme, that's because it is. But in the pressure of a contested separation, it hap

Father's Day is everywhere this weekend. The cards in the supermarket, the Sunday lunch bookings, the "tag a dad" posts filling up your feed. For a lot of fathers, none of that touches them today because the children they'd be celebrating with aren't there. If that's you, this is genuinely hard, and the challenge of it is not a sign that you're failing. It's a sign that you're a father who wants to see his children and currently can't, on a day that's designed to make that ab

Divorce and relationship breakdown are estimated to cost the UK economy up to £50 billion every year. So why is it, when one in three UK marriages ends in divorce, one of the most financially and emotionally destabilising experiences a person can go through, is the workplace response still largely: nothing?

Co-parenting after separation is never going to be perfect. It’s important to remind yourself of that fact as often as you can. However, co-parenting should focus on consistency, respect, and putting your children first. I understand that many couples struggle to achieve amicable co-parenting. Often, one party is resistant to the idea. But that doesn’t mean you can’t give it your best shot. Here are ten practical ways to help you keep things calm, constructive, and child-focu