Worried about your relationship? Can’t stop arguing in front of your children? Not sure if you should separate?

Charlotte Church and Gavin Henson have confirmed they are to separate just weeks after announcing their engagement. Al and Tipper Gore have announced they are to separate a fortnight after celebrating their 40th wedding anniversary with friends and family. Whilst Peter Andre is said to still be in daily contact with Katie Price’s son Harvey - despite the fact he has no legal obligation to spend any time with him.

So are these celebrities sure they are doing the right thing? What makes a couple go from celebrating their commitment to separating in a matter of weeks?

Gavin and Charlotte both say they will try their hardest to deal with things in a way which will minimise the impact on their toddlers. Like many couples they want to do the right thing and say they ‘intend’ to work together and cooperate with each other for the sake of their children.

But coming so soon after the engagement announcement one might assume they are not really sure what they want or how to manage their difficulties … but research shows this is common.

One Plus One the UK’s leading relationships research charity has just launched an innovative new web-service for parents, separating parents and co-parents – The Parent Connection.

www.theparentconnection.org.uk helps parents gain a ‘deeper’ understanding of the difficult issues associated with separation and helps them establish a new ‘parenting’ relationship after parting.

The service is unlike other parenting or divorce advice sites in that it supports parents through the different stages. So it can be used throughout the separation but can also be used by parents who are just worried about their relationship – so like Gavin and Charlotte not sure if they want to get married or split up!

The site has been created in partnership with the National Family Mediation, the network of mediation services, and draws on many of the techniques used in face-to-face mediation sessions.

The site includes:

• Articles – on a wide range of issues such as communication, becoming parents, keeping children in mind.
• Videos – featuring children and young people talking about their parents’ separation.
• Animations – to help understanding of what’s really going on when parents separate.
• Exercises – practical things to do used in face-to-face mediation sessions.
• Quizzes – a fun way to help you communicate better and learn the key things to ease the transition from couple to co-parents.

The site builds on the success of One Plus One’s web service thecoupleconnection.net in providing online, do-it-yourself relationship’s support. This 24/7 service has over quarter of a million users and is built on One Plus Ones tried and tested Helping Process used by counsellors and mediators.

One Plus One is the UK’s leading relationships research organisation. In 2011 One Plus One will be celebrating its 40th anniversary.
More information on relationship breakdown and its impacts can be found in the recently published Coleman, L. & Glenn, F. (2009). When couples part: Understanding the consequences for adults and children. London: One Plus One. The Executive Summary can be downloaded from here.
thecoupleconnection.net is an online relationship support tool offering, information, social networking and interactive exercises and quizzes for couples and parents. A recent survey of the site found that 49% of respondents felt the site had ‘helped save my relationship’