what have people have said about this book? Sue Atkins, ITV 'This Morning' Parenting Expert: "Scott's book is bursting with practical, down to earth advice and I particularly liked all of the super ideas & games to help children of all ages deal with separation anxiety. It is written in a conversational friendly tone free of jargon and is enormously practical, with advice on mediation & the legal process...If you are going through a separation or a divorce I highly recommend you pick up a copy of How To Talk To Your Kids About Separation to help you navigate the choppy waters with more confidence." Christopher Mills, psychotherapist, author of The Complete Guide to Divorced Parenting: "There's a revolution going on among family law professionals regarding separation and how to deal with it. Scott Docherty's important new book for separating parents perfectly captures the tone of that revolution, placing him at the forefront of its new influential voices...I have no doubt this timely and readable book will help many separating parents or their children. It holds out hope not just for a fruitful post-separation dialogue, but also warmly and even humorously shows us the nuts-and-bolts of how to achieve this." who is scott? Scott is a lawyer and specialist in family mediation. He works every day with separating couples looking to resolve their issues together on their own terms instead of face to face in court. He champions the use of mediation and other techniques to resolve your separation disputes, encouraging you to take control of your own future and that of your kids by looking at your new life more from their eyes. what's in this book? The book sets out practical tips and techniques to help you talk to your kids about your separation, from how to approach that difficult first chat where the news is broken to them, to dealing with the aftermath and some of the questions you might face from them. The book lays out a common sense approach to keeping your kids informed whilst minimising the effects they might experience as time goes on, and lets you in on some easy methods to handle any separation anxiety in your kids. It spells out in plain and simple language how mediation can help you sort out any separation disputes about your kids, and ends with a useful resources section designed to help the conversation flow between you and your kids. what's that about language? As a lawyer, Scott acknowledges in the book how artificial lawyerly language can be in a time of conflict. Without dumbing things down he avoids commonly unhelpful legal terms that get in the way of a real understanding of what your kids will need during this difficult time in their lives. So the book is written in the natural language he hears every day from parents rather than in the words lawyers tend to force on them and which, disturbingly, can end up being repeated by your kids. so how will this book help you? As Scott says in the book, this is just a little nudge in the right direction, something to help you guide your kids through what could be a pretty traumatic time for them, with or without help from their other parent. He appreciates that you're going through a great deal yourself right now, and that it'll be hard to focus so much on protecting and continuing to inspire your kids as they grow up with separated parents. But he encourages you to believe in your own capacity as a responsible parent, and with the practical guidance he lays out in the book, gives you some of the tools you can use to make your kids' lives a little easier.