The Good Karma Divorce: Avoid Litigation, Turn Negative Emotions into Positive Actions, and Get On with the Rest of Your Life

by Michele Lowrance

Overview

[Michele Lowrance’s] advice is healing and revolutionary. She is clear-headed and open-hearted.” —Julia Cameron, bestselling author of The Artist’s Way

The Good Karma Divorce is that rare guidebook that offers a concrete path to transforming painful experience into positive action. Family Judge Michele Lowrance, who experienced her parents’ divorce and two of her own, has developed what Karen Mathis, past president of the American Bar Association, describes as an “inspired and uplifting alternative to the agonizing divorce process.” Over the past four years, Judge Lowrance has seen literally one hundred percent of divorcing couples who applied the practices described in The Good Karma Divorce avoid trial. Firmly entrenched in real-world applicability, The Good Karma Divorce is a must-read not only for people in any phase of a divorce, but for psychologists, psychiatrists, attorneys, judges, and social workers, as well.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780061840715
Publisher:	HarperCollins
Publication date:	01/04/2011
Pages:	243
Sales rank:	753,123
Product dimensions:	5.31(w) x 8.00(h) x 0.58(d)

About the Author

Michele F. Lowrance has been a domestic-relations judge in the Circuit Court of Illinois since 1995. A child of divorce who was raised by her grandparents, Judge Lowrance has been divorced and has devoted her professional life to helping those similarly situated.

Table of Contents

Note to Readers ix

Introduction 1

Part 1 Creating Your Soul Search Party

1 Your Personal Manifesto: The Antidote to the Negative Seductions of Breakup 15

2 The Process: Reclaiming Your Power 35

Part 2 Harnessing the Positive Power of Negative Emotions

3 Criticism: A Flood in the Mouth, a River with No Banks 57

4 The Stains of Heartbreak: Hot-, Warm-, or Cold-Blooded Anger 67

5 Carnival Mirrors: Betrayal 87

6 Mood Lighting: Emotions as a Source of Illumination 97

7 Forgiveness: Weapon of Mass Construction 117

8 Apologies: Managing the Ebb and Flow of Trust 137

Part 3 Preventing Collateral Damage

9 Damage to Children: Developing the Heroic in Your Parenting 155

10 Your Child's Wounded World 165

11 Wisdom-Building Skills for Parents 175

Part 4 Transformative Confrontation

12 Carnage in the Courtroom 191

13 Reinvigorating Stale Negotiations 199

14 Your Civility Contract 211

Part 5 Embracing the Road Ahead

15 Karma and the Recycling of Human Relationships 225

16 Building a Practice Circle 23$$$

Acknowledgments 239

Notes 24$$$

What People are Saying About This

Christiane Northrup

“It took me nearly 10 years to recover from my divorce. I am certain that my healing would have been infinitely quicker and less painful if I had had the resources in this book. If you want your divorce to be as healing and transformational as possible, read this book.”

Deepak Chopra

“Judge Michele skillfully offers a new formula for healing the heart, mind, and body in the depths of adversity.”

Julia Cameron

“Out of her deep well of experience, Michele Lowrance offers a compassionate overview. She brings hope and clarity to an arena most often characterized by despair and resentment. Her advice is healing and revolutionary. She is clear headed and open hearted.”

Warren Farrell

“If you love your children, read The Good Karma Divorce.”

John Ratey

“Michele has culled a treasure trove of loving practical wisdom from her years of experience... She shows us how we can tame and hopefully master the hate, blame, and despair of our personal cataclysm and lead us to a more fulfilling life on the other side.”

Karen Mathis

“In the Good Karma Divorce, Judge Lowrance suggests an inspired and uplifting alternative to the agonizing divorce process. In a practical and helpful style she sets out a radically new way to approach divorce.”

Editorial Reviews

In the Good Karma Divorce, Judge Lowrance suggests an inspired and uplifting alternative to the agonizing divorce process. In a practical and helpful style she sets out a radically new way to approach divorce.” — Karen Mathis, past President, American Bar Association

“It took me nearly 10 years to recover from my divorce. I am certain that my healing would have been infinitely quicker and less painful if I had had the resources in this book. If you want your divorce to be as healing and transformational as possible, read this book.” — Christiane Northrup, author of The Wisdom of Menopause

“Out of her deep well of experience, Michele Lowrance offers a compassionate overview. She brings hope and clarity to an arena most often characterized by despair and resentment. Her advice is healing and revolutionary. She is clear headed and open hearted.” — Julia Cameron, bestselling author of The Artist’s Way

“Michele has culled a treasure trove of loving practical wisdom from her years of experience... She shows us how we can tame and hopefully master the hate, blame, and despair of our personal cataclysm and lead us to a more fulfilling life on the other side.” — John Ratey MD, Clinical Associate Professor of Psychiatry Harvard Medical School, co-author, Driven to Distraction and author, Spark: The Revolutionary New Science of Exercise and the Brain.

“Judge Michele skillfully offers a new formula for healing the heart, mind, and body in the depths of adversity.” — Deepak Chopra, author, The Ultimate Happiness Prescription: Seven Keys to Joy & Enlightenment.

“If you love your children, read The Good Karma Divorce.” — Warren Farrell, Ph.D., Author, Women Can't Hear What Men Don't Say, and Father and Child Reunion

“The book...takes on the process of marriage dissolution as smoothly and deftly as Michele does in her courtroom.” — Today's Chicago Woman

“It is relevant not only to currently divorcing parties, but to anyone who has been touched by divorce.” — Chicago Lawyer Magazine

“Over the past four years, 100 percent of divorcing couples who followed the principles Lowrance lays out in the book have avoided trial, and we can see why.” — Elevated Existence

From the Publisher

Judge Michele skillfully offers a new formula for healing the heart, mind, and body in the depths of adversity.

Deepak Chopra

In the Good Karma Divorce, Judge Lowrance suggests an inspired and uplifting alternative to the agonizing divorce process. In a practical and helpful style she sets out a radically new way to approach divorce.

Karen Mathis

The book...takes on the process of marriage dissolution as smoothly and deftly as Michele does in her courtroom.

Today's Chicago Woman

It is relevant not only to currently divorcing parties, but to anyone who has been touched by divorce.

Chicago Lawyer Magazine

Michele has culled a treasure trove of loving practical wisdom from her years of experience... She shows us how we can tame and hopefully master the hate, blame, and despair of our personal cataclysm and lead us to a more fulfilling life on the other side.

John Ratey MD

Over the past four years, 100 percent of divorcing couples who followed the principles Lowrance lays out in the book have avoided trial, and we can see why.

Elevated Existence

If you love your children, read The Good Karma Divorce.

Warren Farrell

It took me nearly 10 years to recover from my divorce. I am certain that my healing would have been infinitely quicker and less painful if I had had the resources in this book. If you want your divorce to be as healing and transformational as possible, read this book.

Christiane Northrup

Out of her deep well of experience, Michele Lowrance offers a compassionate overview. She brings hope and clarity to an arena most often characterized by despair and resentment. Her advice is healing and revolutionary. She is clear headed and open hearted.

Julia Cameron

It took me nearly 10 years to recover from my divorce. I am certain that my healing would have been infinitely quicker and less painful if I had had the resources in this book. If you want your divorce to be as healing and transformational as possible, read this book.

Christiane Northrup M.D.

"Michele has culled a treasure trove of loving practical wisdom from her years of experience... She shows us how we can tame and hopefully master the hate, blame, and despair of our personal cataclysm and lead us to a more fulfilling life on the other side."

MD - John Ratey