There are many reasons any couple might end a marriage. A major reason for divorce has to do with financial difficulties. Other couples face issues such as disagreement in how to raise children or how clean to keep the house. According to many experts, the biggest reason for divorce has to do with communication, or a lack thereof. When it comes to divorce, whatever the reason, the separation process itself can be eased through divorce mediation.
For one California resident, her biggest struggle in her marriage was not communication or financial difficulty or questions on raising kids, but instead had to do with a mixed-weight relationship. In a recent article, a California UC Berkley grad details the many difficulties she and her husband face in marriage. These include religious background differences, race and financial factors, among others. Yet, the biggest hurdle she has dealt with has to do with weight.
The woman has struggled with her weight for her entire life. Her husband however has always been thin, never having to watch what he eats. This weight difference has led to many arguments and issues with self-esteem. The couple is still married and works to address these issues currently.
While not all couples may end a marriage over any of the above mentioned issues, if divorce does occur, divorce mediation is one approach to the separation process that reduces hostility. In divorce mediation, a neutral mediator assists the separating couple in coming to agreement on complicated questions such as property division and alimony. Rather than in an adversarial setting such as a courtroom, the divorcing parties often sit at a table together to work out their disagreements.
Whatever the reason for separation, the actual process of divorce need not be any more stressful than it already is. Divorce mediation is one way to reduce hostility and leave a marriage with at least friendly feelings for one’s once significant other.
Source: Huffington Post, “Mixed Weight Relationships: No one prepared us for the biggest conflict in our marriage,” Anna Almendrala, Jan. 29, 2013.