Separation & Divorce Support Groups

JimmyMW

Hi, unfortunately in January my Wife suddenly and unexpectedly decided to end our marriage and take my son, she left the house immediately and moved to her home county approx 200km away. I have tried to talk to her but she refuses to discuss anything other than finalizing our separation, she wont even explore the possibilities of what would need to be done to make her happy allowing us to try to repair things, therefore reconciliation appears to be completely off the table at this point.

To be honest I am not coping well, everything I have worked for over the last number of years is now pretty worthless, I am in a house which used to be full of family life, and now I am completely on my own and the silence is crippling. Whilst talking to friends and family is helpful, its not really putting me at any ease, I have found some people who have gone through a separation and talking to them helps as I feel they truly understand what I am going through. With that in mind I went in search of a support group where people with similar issues just meet up and discuss things, but no such thing appear to exist. Does anyone here know of anything like that in the Cork area?

Thanks for reading, sorry for the long post

brenbyrn

Hey Jimmy

I'm sorry to hear about your situation. I went through a separation a few years ago and just going through a divorce now. Im still finding it very hard - so you're not on your own in this situation and things do get better.

I know what you mean - it can be very tough to speak to people - but please make sure you do. I didn't speak to anyone about my situation for a long time and bottled everything up - it multiplied the problems for me. Speak to your friends, family and anyone that you think might be good to speak with. I was really surprised a lot of people had similar situations going on in their lives or knew people that could relate. This helped a lot.

I found a lot of comfort talking through with people that had similar situations too.

In regards to support groups - im afraid i dont know of any, but it's something I would still like to get involved in myself. I think it's a really lacking area. Hopefully things work out ok for you, keep in touch with friends and family. Dont be afraid to pick up the phone and call people up to have a chat.

iuil1999

Hi OP.

I was in a similar situation myself a number of years ago. My marriage ended abruptly. It's a crap situation. It took me a while but I got there and you will too. This lockdown certainly won't be helping either.

I never looked into support groups but I did find it a help to chat with people about it.

Feel free to pm if you want to chat.

JSman2020

I would be really interested in the same. In a very stressful JS myself at the moment unfortunately too. MensAid, FLAC Ive found useful and they have a Councillor that can call you. Unfortunately there is no fathersforjustice in Ireland. If anyone knows of any others in Dublin, please post. Im also open to direct contact email for any other men in a similar JS legal process or whom have been through a Court process. It is super hard to get support, advice and is really stressful. Thank you.