My mom and dad broke up when I was eight, but I still can’t seem to get over it. My mom says that I have to let it go, but I just can’t seem to. I’ve tried everything to be happy and forget about it, but nothing helps. What should I do?
When parents’ divorce there are no rules about how long it takes to come to peace with having a new family structure. People integrate their experience in stages and sometimes it seems very difficult to imagine being happy again. It’s unrealistic to “try to be happy and forget about it’” when you’re still hurting, but it is realistic to anticipate that one day you’ll feel better. It would be very useful for you to talk privately with a counselor to learn how to become more used to this situation now and as you get older.