Divorce can create fear about your future, but when fear drives your divorce decisions, it can lead you away from what really matters. In a Collaborative Divorce, you get the support you need to make thoughtful choices based on your goals, not your stress.
Fear Is a Natural Reaction
If you are going through a divorce, it is completely normal to feel afraid. You are dealing with stress, change, and uncertainty. That fear can put your brain into survival mode, where you are reactive and less thoughtful. But when you are making decisions about your future and your family, reacting from a position of fear is rarely helpful.
You may worry about finances, parenting time, or even just what life will look like next. These concerns deserve attention, but they should not be in charge of your decisions.
Shift Toward What Matters Most
Instead of letting fear guide your choices, take time to identify what is most important to you. That could be protecting your children from conflict, maintaining financial stability, or moving forward with dignity. Once you know your priorities, your Collaborative Divorce team will help you stay focused on those priorities.
You can still acknowledge your fears. But think of them as something on the side of the road not the path forward. If you only look at what you are afraid about, you may end up stuck. Let your collaborative team help you move in a direction that reflects your values and long-term goals.
Support Helps Calm the Process
In a Collaborative Divorce, you are not on your own. Mental health professionals, divorce coaches, and financial specialists are available to guide and support you. If you are uncertain about your financial future, a Certified Divorce Financial Analyst will help you see what different settlement choices may look like over the next 10 or 15 years. Having that information can ease your worries and help you make thoughtful, informed decisions.
Whether you are caught up in emotions or unsure about money, your divorce support team is there to help you slow down and move forward at a pace that works for you.
Contact McNeill Family Law
At McNeill Family Law, we believe that divorce shouldn’t be driven by fear. With the right team and a thoughtful process, you can make decisions that protect your future and your family. Call 587-956-9300 or contact McNeill Family Law to schedule a consultation and learn more about how Collaborative Divorce can support you every step of the way.
McNeill Family Law is located at #200, 638 11 Ave S.W., Calgary, Alberta T2R 0E2.
Beryl McNeill is a Calgary divorce lawyer who strongly believes mutual respect and understanding go a long way toward resolving family law matters. As a Registered Collaborative Law practitioner in Calgary, she has dedicated her firm to amicable, cooperative negotiation as a means for settling divorces. Furthermore, throughout her law career, Beryl has seen the costs of adversarial negotiations, both financial and emotional. In emphasizing the collaborative approach, Beryl offers her clients a more efficient model that preserves personal and monetary assets alike.
More and more individuals are attracted to resolving their family law matters in a civil, respectful way. Therefore, they come to Beryl from many walks of life—as professionals in the oil and gas industry and their spouses, business owners, and working spouses with children. Clients say that even after a single consultation with Beryl they feel less stressed and more clear about the way forward.
Beryl understands the often fearful, emotional early stages of divorce. Incorporating skills developed from her training as a life coach, Beryl helps clients move beyond their stress response to more logical, creative thinking. Once there, she works with clients to discover what’s truly important to them in attaining divorce. Furthermore, she encourages clients to picture what a successful settlement would look like a year or more down the road as a means of focusing on their goals. By educating and empowering clients, Beryl seeks to transform the way they resolve family disputes—in a more constructive, intelligent and amicable way than would be possible otherwise.
Finally, Beryl is very active with the Family Bar and the Collaborative Law Community. Her involvement provides her clients with the assurance that she has her finger on the pulse of Family Law in Alberta, offering them a distinct advantage in their quest for equity and civility.