Supportive Experiences

Divorce Recovery Workshop

Several times a year we offer a five-week series for adults facing separation and divorce. These seminars involve multiple speakers on topics which include emotional, psychological, legal, financial, social and co-parental aspects of the recovery process. Each session concludes with facilitated small support groups. We meet on Tuesday nights from 7 - 9 PM.

Dates and times for 2007 workshops:
January 23 – February 20
May 8 - June 5
September 18 – October 16

Meetings are held at
First Methodist Foundation Building
750 W. Fifth Street

In downtown Fort Worth
(use Fifth Street entrance on south side of building)

To register call 817-339-5071 or click here

Divorce Recovery

  • Divorce can be the most painful experience of a lifetime.
  • Approximately one half of all first marriages end in divorce.
  • More than 80 percent of divorced people remarry within 3 years and 65 percent of them will divorce. For those who remarry a third time, 75 percent also end in divorce.

These figures point to a need for support as well as growth-oriented programs that can help us learn new skills, recognize patterns and issues that have emerged in our relationships, and regain hope and trust. The needs of the divorced person:

People going through a divorce often feel a sense of alienation, a loss of self-esteem, and a monumental sense of guilt, failure, or rejection. They struggle with feelings of burnout as they assume added responsibilities with personal finances, children and other household disruptions.

Separated and divorced people most often feel an overwhelming sense of loneliness, as if they are the only ones going through the crisis and no one else is able to understand what is happening to them or how they are feeling. Divorced people seek to meet their needs in three basic ways:

  • They internalize: They withdraw into themselves and become reclusive.
  • They externalize: Others try to run away from issues and problems that surround them. Work or other relationships can be used to avoid reality.
  • They actualize: This is difficult… they must be able to say in the mirror, "I am divorced. I am single. I have to start, not where I would like to be but where I am."

Stages of Recovery

SHOCK This describes that numbness, that aimless wandering, that zombied state where the divorcee is unable to respond normally, simply because of the tragic magnitude of the situation. People who are in shock cannot think or act clearly or with objectivity. The caring concern of others can minimize the length of the shock period.

ADJUSTMENT People going through divorce begin to adjust when they are able to admit where they are and who they are. Recognizing the fact that they have to reevaluate and readjust to a totally healthy lifestyle and setting new goals for their lives means they are beginning to adjust.

GROWTH Ideally the divorce will turn into an opportunity for growth. Jim Smoke clarifies the distinction between going through a divorce and growing through it. That such adjustment (actualizing) and growth can occur is ultimately the aim of our divorce recovery series.

Grief Support

Our quarterly grief support group meets for four weeks each quarter, on Sunday mornings from 9:30 to 10:30. It is held during the first four Sundays of the months of February, May, August, and November. Leaders are professionals within our church. The focus is to provide a basic understanding of ways to handle grief that are healthy and lead to healing. Opportunity is given for sharing personal concerns for those who wish to do so. For more information, please contact Larry Grubb, 817/339-5098 or email.

To register click here.

Counseling

Counseling is provided on a sliding scale basis through our Center for Creative Transformation

Charles Gaby, MA, LPC specializes in relationship counseling and divorce recovery. 817-339-5071

Rev. Larry Grubb is a pastoral counselor and Associate Minister at First United Methodist Church. 817-339-5098