This book is primarily a parenting guide, but it is also a book about recovery. Those of you who are adjusting well to your separation may find yourselves moving quickly through Parts I and II in order to get to Part III, which is specific and direct about dividing parenting time and arranging other aspects of your child's new life.
The most valuable way to use this book, however, is to read it from beginning to end. Parts I and II outline the basis for the negative feelings that are felt in varying degrees by almost every separated mother and father. If you go through the steps in progression they will help you see why the most important task you have ahead is to learn to get along with your former partner.
Shirley Thomas, PhD, is a psychologist in Colorado who has helped thousands of children and parents cope with separation and divorce. She emphasizes coparenting education in her work, and regularly consults with courts about the needs of children. First published in 1995, the revised edition of Parents Are Forever is widely used as a textbook in parenting classes about the needs of children to have two, cooperative parents in their lives after divorce.