Marriages sometimes hit the rocks for unusual or counter-intuitive reasons. Your spouse may be lashing out at you not because she no longer loves you, but because things suddenly became very tough for her at work. Your husband may be unresponsive not because he’s gotten tired of you, but because he is experiencing a physical or neurological breakdown of some kind.
While most couples are able to work things out under ordinary circumstances, once problems appear, communication often dries up. Passive aggression may become naked aggression. Once the knives are out and the plates are flying through the air, it is probably too late to ask whether the proper professional to consult is a marriage counselor or a divorce lawyer.
It is in your mutual interest to seek professional help before that breaking point has been reached. Allowing the emotional temperature to reach and stay at the boiling point is almost always a mistake, and you are nearly always better off making the effort to try to resolve your differences in good faith, even as it becomes clear that divorce is the only viable option. The most bitter and costliest divorces are often the easily predictable result of gratuitous and unnecessarily harsh comments that would have been better left unuttered.
If you can’t convince your estranged spouse to go with you to see a marriage counselor, you might still be well-advised to visit a therapist on your own. It is better to get things off your chest with a licensed professional in a confidential setting than to let off steam by insulting or haranguing your spouse.
As with many complicated situations in life, “either/or” is a false choice. If your marriage is under attack, for whatever reason, it is always wise to get a clear-headed view of your legal rights and responsibilities. This principle is even more important when children are involved, as we have no greater responsibility in life than making sure we provide our children with a safe and healthy environment.
Hirsch Legal, LLC can help you understand and manage the divorce process so you can obtain the best resolution possible. And while we can’t do much to ease your psychological pain during this agonizing time, we can certainly refer you to qualified professionals who can help.
Hirsch Legal, LLC, based in Shelton, CT., serves clients in New Haven and throughout Fairfield County (Bridgeport, Milford, Danbury, Oxford). Our principal attorney, Carmina Hirsch, is a highly-regarded divorce and family law professional. Call now!