Welcome to "New Beginnings: Navigating Life After Separation," a place where healing meets hope.

Our blog is dedicated to supporting and empowering those who are navigating the challenging waters of separation and divorce. Here, you will find resources designed to help you manage the emotional and practical aspects of this significant life transition.

 Whether you're looking for advice on self-care, legal tips, or ways to rebuild and thrive post-divorce, our posts are crafted with care to provide you with insightful, practical, and uplifting content. Our goal is to assist you in transforming a period of change into a journey of growth and new possibilities.

 Join us as we explore topics ranging from emotional healing to practical steps for moving forward, all aimed at helping you embrace your new beginning. Let’s start this transformative journey together, with resilience, understanding, and optimism.

Kerstin Thode Kerstin Thode

A fresh perspective…

Parenting is rarely straightforward — and parenting after separation can bring challenges you never imagined. There are tough conversations, sudden changes of plans, children acting out their emotions, and moments where it feels like you’re carrying the world on your shoulders.

It’s easy to see these moments as setbacks. But what if they could also be opportunities?

Just like spring transforms landscapes, you have the power to transform how you view parenting challenges — and in doing so, you can change the experience for both you and your children

Read More
Kerstin Thode Kerstin Thode

Co-parenting in bloom…

Spring is such a beautiful reminder that growth takes patience, care, and consistency. 🌱

Think of a garden: before the blossoms appear, the soil must be prepared, seeds must be planted, and those tender shoots need to be watered and tended. Neglect it, and weeds will take over. Nurture it, and you’ll see colour, balance, and beauty emerge.

Co-parenting is much the same.

After separation, communication with your former partner can feel like rocky soil — full of old hurts, misunderstandings, and frustrations. But with the right care, it’s possible to cultivate a healthier environment where your children can thrive, just like a garden coming into bloom.

Read More
Kerstin Thode Kerstin Thode

Spring picnics and play…

After separation, life can sometimes feel heavy with “to-dos.” Court dates, paperwork, schedules, and the endless juggle of parenting… joy can easily slip to the bottom of the list.

But here’s the thing: joy isn’t a luxury. It’s a lifeline.

Especially for families going through change, sprinkling simple, happy moments into the everyday can bring stability, connection, and a reminder that laughter still belongs in your home. And what better time to invite joy back in than spring — a season of fresh air, blossoms, and sunshine that calls us outdoors?

You don’t need a big budget or fancy plans to create memories with your children. In fact, it’s often the simplest experiences that leave the deepest imprint. Let’s talk about a few easy, affordable ways to reconnect with joy this season. 🌸

Read More
Kerstin Thode Kerstin Thode

Fresh starts after separation

There’s something about the first warm breeze of spring that feels like an invitation.
Windows open, curtains fluttering, the air scented with jasmine or freshly cut grass… it’s as though nature whispers, “It’s time to begin again.”

If you’re walking through the tender season after a separation, you may feel anything but renewed. Maybe your days feel heavy, or you’re not sure how to piece together this new version of your life. I want you to know: that’s okay. Renewal doesn’t happen overnight. Just like spring, it unfolds gently, little by little.

Read More
Kerstin Thode Kerstin Thode

The Power of letting go…

When I moved from Germany to Australia, I packed everything I thought I would need.

My paperwork. My essentials. My “just in case” items (far too many).
And a version of myself who was used to having everything in order.

I liked plans. I liked knowing what came next. I liked control.

But very quickly, I learnt something that changed me—
You can have the best-laid plans in the world, and still find yourself standing on a beach, crying into a chai latte, wondering why nothing feels the way it is “supposed” to.

Letting go was not on my checklist. But it became my biggest teacher.

And if you are going through a separation, a move, or a major life transition—
You might already feel it too: that tug-of-war between holding it all together and wanting to just exhale.

This blog is for that version of you. The one standing in the messy middle.
Let us talk about why letting go—of control, of perfection, of timelines—might be the very thing that sets you free.

Read More
Kerstin Thode Kerstin Thode

Embracing change...

I will never forget the first time I stepped off the plane in Australia.

The light was different.
The accents were different.
Even the air smelled unfamiliar—salty and warm, wrapped in something wild and wide open.

I had moved halfway across the world from Germany, leaving behind family, friends, routines, language… the identity I had known for most of my life.

And although I had chosen this change, it still shook me.
I felt like a grown-up beginner. Everything was unfamiliar. And as much as I loved the adventure, I also had moments where I missed what was known and comfortable.

But here is what I learnt from that experience—

Read More
Kerstin Thode Kerstin Thode

Building new connections…

There is a quiet ache that often follows separation.
Not just the loss of the relationship—but the way your friendships start to shift too.

The couple friends fade.
The invites slow down.
The group chats go quiet.
And in the middle of that silence, you might find yourself asking—who do I belong with now?

As a divorce coach, I hear this all the time. It is one of the most unexpected parts of the healing process—realising that your social world might need a complete replanting. But I also want to remind you of this…..

Read More
Kerstin Thode Kerstin Thode

Building confidence in your new identity....

 I have sat across from countless people—some still raw from the shock of it all, others months or years into rebuilding—each asking in their own way, “Who am I now?” After separation, there is often a quiet moment when the roles you have known—partner, planner, caregiver—begin to dissolve, and what remains feels unfamiliar. I have seen this moment enough times to know it is not weakness. It is the beginning of a new identity being shaped.

Read More
Kerstin Thode Kerstin Thode

When it feels like everyone else is coupled up:

When it feels like everyone else is coupled up: Surviving the social chill

There’s something about winter that can make you feel like the only one on the outside looking in.

Maybe it’s the cosy couple photos on your feed—matching beanies, weekend getaways, wine by the fire.
Or the invites to dinners where you know you’ll be the only one without a plus-one.
Or just the heaviness that settles in when the evenings grow long and quiet, and your phone stays silent.

It can feel like the world is pairing off while you're figuring out how to sleep in the middle of the bed again.

And if you’ve recently separated—or are deep in the rebuilding season—it can hit even harder.

Read More
Kerstin Thode Kerstin Thode

Shared custody, cold hands...

Shared custody, cold hands: Navigating winter handover days with grace

There’s something about winter handovers that can make everything feel heavier.

Maybe it’s the way the cold gets into your bones.
Maybe it’s the grey skies and the hurried goodbyes in chilly car parks.
Or maybe it’s that little lump in your throat as your child disappears into the backseat of another car—still clutching the teddy they didn’t want to forget.

Parenting after separation is full of transitions.
But in winter, those handover moments can feel particularly tender.
The silence afterwards. The chill that lingers. The emotional aftershocks that ripple through both you and your child.

Read More

More support