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Separation & Divorce Counseling

This wasn't the plan.

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Whether you're lying awake night after night wondering whether your relationship can be saved – or if you're simply too exhausted to keep trying ...

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Or you've already separated, but instead of feeling relieved, you're filled with grief, confusion, or a hollow ache that won't go away ...

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Or the divorce is finalized, but you're still carrying the weight of it – mentally, emotionally, and in all the daily details that now feel strange and uncertain ...

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If you're like many of the clients we work with, you probably feel like you're losing more than just a partner. You're losing your stability. Your sense of self. The future you thought you were building.

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You may also be overwhelmed by a mix of emotions – anxiety, fear, guilt, regret, sadness, or even relief – that you don't quite know how to hold or express.

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These are the parts of breaking up that no one prepares you for.

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But you can get through this. And you don't have to do it alone.

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At Big Life Change Therapy, we specialize in helping people navigate major life transitions with clarity, emotional resilience, and self-compassion.

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Few transitions are as disorienting and painful as the end of a significant relationship. We're here to help you weather the storm, rediscover your strength, and move forward with confidence and optimism.

Image by Aaron Burden

How Separation & Divorce Counseling Can Help

Whether you're thinking about leaving a relationship, in the middle of a separation or breakup, or navigating the legal and emotional layers of divorce – you don't need to push through it all in "survival mode."

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Counseling and therapy offer you space to pause, reflect, and heal at your own pace.

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And we provide support for clients at every stage of the process ...

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If You're Contemplating a Relationship Change

 

Making decisions about your relationship's future can feel overwhelming. If you're unsure whether to stay or go, therapy can help you:

  • Gain clarity about your values, needs, and relationship dynamics

  • Explore whether challenges can be resolved – or reflect deeper incompatibilities

  • Process conflicting emotions, fear, or ambivalence

  • Understand how past relationships and family dynamics may be influencing your present

  • Communicate more openly and effectively with your partner

  • Navigate trial separations with clear boundaries and intentions

  • Evaluate the emotional and practical implications of different paths forward

  • Make decisions that are aligned with your authentic self​

 

If You're Navigating a Breakup

 

Even when it's the right choice, the end of a significant relationship is rarely easy. We can help you:

  • Process feelings of grief and loss, anger, relief, or betrayal

  • Set and maintain healthy boundaries with your ex

  • Manage practical life changes in living arrangements, finances, or social circles

  • Rebuild your identity outside of the relationship

  • Understand your role in the relationship patterns that led to the breakup, so you can avoid repeating them

  • Work through any anxieties or fears about being alone or starting over

  • Cultivate emotional resilience, find meaning, and use the breakup as an opportunity for learning and growth

 

If You Need Divorce Support

 

Divorce isn't just the end of a marriage – it's a complex legal, financial, and social transition and a life-altering emotional journey. Our specialized divorce counseling and therapy services can help you:

  • Process the numerous emotions that accompany the end of a marriage, such as anger, grief, shame, and relief

  • Manage the stress of legal proceedings and financial transitions

  • Create effective co-parenting dynamics and custody communication

  • Navigate how to share the news of your divorce in a way that feels grounded and authentic

  • Redefine your post-marriage identity and goals

  • Let go of resentment, regret, or self-blame

  • Build resilience and move forward with intention as you write the next chapter of your life

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If You're Going Through a High-Conflict Separation

 

When the end of a relationship is especially volatile or painful, you may need extra support to feel safe, grounded, and empowered. We can help you:

  • Set and maintain clear, healthy boundaries to reduce conflict

  • Develop effective communication strategies for necessary interactions

  • Protect your well-being while navigating stressful legal proceedings

  • Learn to focus on what you can control and let go of what you can't

  • Process and heal from the trauma of emotional or physical abuse

  • Develop safety plans when necessary

  • Advocate for yourself during legal or custody proceedings

  • Heal from the effects of high-conflict relationship experiences and reclaim your sense of safety and self-worth

 

Rebuilding After a Relationship Ends

 

Once the dust begins to settle, you may feel lost – uncertain about who you are now, or where to begin. Separation and divorce counseling can help you:

  • Identify and shift old relationship patterns that no longer serve you

  • Rebuild trust in yourself – and eventually, in others

  • Establish healthy boundaries in future relationships

  • Reconnect with parts of yourself that were lost or silenced in your relationship

  • Process "unfinished business" from past relationships

  • Nurture your relationship with yourself before getting into a new relationship with someone else

  • Learn to approach dating and new relationships with greater clarity and self-awareness

  • Transform your relationship pain into meaningful personal growth

  • Create a fulfilling life – regardless of your relationship status

Image by Daniel Hering

Our Therapeutic Approach

At Big Life Change therapy, our clinicians specialize in helping people navigate relationship and life transitions through compassionate, evidence-based, client-centered therapeutic approaches that are tailored to your unique needs, including:

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  • Attachment-Based Therapy to explore how your early relationships influence relationship patterns in the present

  • Narrative Therapy to help you reclaim your voice and rewrite your story after a significant relationship change

  • Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) to shift negative thought patterns you may have about relationships or yourself, so you can strengthen your sense of self-worth

  • Mindfulness Practices to anchor you in the present, reduce feelings of overwhelm, and manage the intense emotions of relationship transitions

  • Trauma-Informed Care to process and heal from the emotional or physical abuse of a high-conflict or toxic relationship

  • Self-Compassion Work to develop a kinder internal dialogue and counter self-criticism and shame

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We offer both virtual and in-person divorce counseling and therapy sessions, and tailor our work to your circumstances – whether you're cohabiting post-breakup, juggling joint custody or legal appointments, or just trying to keep up with daily life.

Newcastle Australia

When to Seek Help

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Do We Have the Best Separation or Divorce Counselor for You?

At Big Life Change Therapy, we specialize in helping people navigate life's most challenging transitions – and few transitions are as emotionally complex and overwhelming as the end of a significant relationship.

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This is why we offer:

  • Priority scheduling for clients needing immediate assistance

  • Appointments available within 48 hours whenever possible

  • In-person and telehealth options

  • Warm, affirming, nonjudgmental care

  • Sliding scale options to help make support more accessible

 

That being said, every person and every relationship is unique. We all have different needs and goals. And every healing journey is personal.

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This is why no one therapist can be the best separation or divorce counselor for every client.

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Fortunately, Big Life Change Therapy is more than one therapist.

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Our team includes clinicians who are highly trained and experienced in separation, divorce, relationship dynamics, trauma, and life transitions. There's a strong chance one of us will be a great fit for your unique personality and needs.

 

Of course, the only way to know for sure is to contact us, let us know how we can help, and see if we feel like a good fit.

If you're standing at the edge of a major relationship change – whether you're in it, approaching it, or still recovering from it – you don't have to face it alone.
 

We’re here to make getting the help and support you need and deserve as easy as possible.

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Contact us today, schedule a free 15-minute consultation, ask any questions you have, share your story, and discover how the compassionate, comprehensive support at Big Life Change Therapy can help you navigate the challenges you're facing, put the pieces back together, and intentionally create a life you love and that's truly yours.

Learn How to Put the Pieces Back Together After Everything You Thought Was Forever Has Fallen Apart

You don't need to wait for a crisis. Consider reaching out for separation or divorce counseling if you're struggling with:

  • Persistent uncertainty about staying in or leaving a relationship

  • Difficulties managing personal or professional responsibilities due to emotional stress

  • Intense emotions that feel overwhelming or unpredictable

  • Relationship patterns that keep repeating despite your best efforts

  • Communication problems during separation or divorce

  • Concerns about how your relationship changes are affecting your children

  • Lingering feelings of guilt, shame, resentment, anger, grief, or attachment to an ex

  • Anxiety about being alone, dating again, or "making the same mistake" in a new relationship

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