The New Year is traditionally a time of reflection, intention, and course correction. For many individuals, particularly high-achieving professionals and financially secure families, it is also the moment when long-ignored unhealthy realities within a marriage can no longer be dismissed.
As a medically trained divorce attorney and mediator, I see mental and emotional health issues in marriage as among the most common, yet least openly discussed, reasons people seek divorce.
Chronic stress, anxiety, emotional manipulation, unresolved trauma, and high-conflict dynamics often erode not only the relationship, but physical health, professional performance, and overall quality of life.
Divorce, when approached incorrectly, can compound these issues. When approached thoughtfully, divorce can be a restorative process.
This is the foundation of my health-centered, medically and psychologically informed divorce mediation process.
Divorce Is a Health Event. Not Just a Legal One
As both a seasoned divorce attorney and a medical professional, I approach divorce differently that most divorce attorneys. I understand what many traditional legal models overlook:
Divorce is one of the most significant stress events a person can experience.
I consistently see links between prolonged marital conflict and adversarial divorce to:
- Anxiety and depression
- Sleep disorders and fatigue
- Elevated blood pressure and cardiovascular strain
- Cognitive overload and impaired decision-making
- Emotional and behavioral impacts on children
For professionals, executives, caregivers, and parents, these effects can ripple into every area of life.
My approach recognizes that protecting mental and emotional health is not secondary, it is central to achieving a successful outcome.
Mental Health Issues in Marriage Often Drive the Decision to Divorce
Many clients who seek my guidance are not reacting impulsively. They are responding to years of:
- Emotional invalidation
- High-conflict communication
- Narcissistic or manipulative behavior
- Chronic stress and emotional burnout
- A growing sense of losing themselves within the marriage
By the time divorce becomes a consideration, mental health has often been compromised, not just for one spouse, but for the entire family system.
My role is not to inflame conflict, but to stabilize it, allowing clients to move forward with support and clarity rather than emotional exhaustion.
My divorce mediation model is medically infused and psychologically informed, offering a structured, intelligent alternative to traditional litigation.
My approach:
- Anticipates emotional triggers and high-conflict behavior
- Reduces reactivity and escalation
- Keeps negotiations focused, contained, and productive
- Protects privacy and emotional bandwidth
- Helps clients make sound decisions under stress
This method is particularly effective in cases involving anxiety, depression, narcissistic traits, or other character disorders with long-standing emotional dysfunction where courtroom litigation often causes unnecessary harm.
Why Affluent Clients Are Drawn to a Health-Centered Divorce Approach
High-net-worth individuals often have one non-negotiable priority: functioning at a high level while navigating divorce.
Extended litigation can interfere with:
- Leadership and decision-making
- Professional reputation
- Business continuity
- Parenting effectiveness
- Physical and emotional well-being
My unique mediation method allows clients to:
- Resolve divorce privately and efficiently
- Avoid the public spectacle of court
- Preserve emotional, physical and financial health
- Maintain focus on families and careers
- Exit the marriage with dignity, control and fair settlements
For many, this divorce approach aligns with how they handle every other important decision in life, strategically, thoughtfully, and with expert guidance.
For example: “Laura,” a successful marketing professional in her early 40s, came to see me after years of her husband gaslighting her and causing extreme marital stress. Her marriage was marked by emotional volatility, constant tension, unbearable emotional abuse and a growing sense of anxiety that began affecting her well-being, work performance and her children.
Though financially secure, Laura feared that a traditional divorce would escalate conflict and worsen her partner’s behavior. She did not want to spend years in court with her spouse playing games and controlling the process through chaos and turmoil.
Through my legally strategic and medically and psychologically driven mediation process, Laura:
- Regained emotional stability
- Avoided prolonged expensive litigation
- Protected her privacy, assets and finances
- Created a structured resolution without unnecessary confrontation
- Received strong intervention and guidance when confronted with turmoil
- Obtained a well negotiated and fair settlement
- Protected her children with fair visitation and custody decisions
Starting the New Year with Intention, Not Chaos
I often tell clients seeking a divorce that the beginning of the year is a powerful time to choose a different path, one rooted in self-preservation, clarity, and long-term well-being.
A health-centered divorce does not mean avoiding difficult decisions. It means approaching them in a way that:
- Minimizes harm
- Maximizes clarity
- Preserves dignity
- Protects mental and physical health, as well as family.
This is divorce guided by intelligence, not impulse.
Take the First Step Toward a Healthier Future
If you are entering the New Year questioning your marriage, considering divorce and the impact your unhealthy marriage is having on your mental or emotional health and that of your children, you deserve guidance that reflects the seriousness of that concern.
Call me now to learn how my medically infused, health-centered divorce mediation process can help you move forward with clarity, discretion, and strength.
A new year is not just a date on the calendar, it is an opportunity to reclaim your well-being.
Call me now so I can help you move towards a healthier life for you and your family in 2026. Call 212.734.1551.
I look forward to helping you!
Warmly,
Lois