Separation does not happen overnight.

Navigating the emotional and practical aspects of separation can easily take a couple of years.

Parents transitioning from their relationship as a couple to a co-parenting relationship have an opportunity to address the problematic areas in their relationship and manage them in new ways. For example:

• Maintain clear boundaries if they were consistently violated in the past

• Develop pathways of communication if there has been a lack of communication

• Create a co-parenting relationship that takes into account everyone’s needs if the needs of one person dominated the relationship in the past