Divorce Magazine Celebrates 20 Years of Serving the Divorce Community
Toronto, ON (PRWEB) March 08, 2016 -- In the summer of 1995, Dan Couvrette and Diana Shepherd started dreaming of starting a new magazine: one that would help separated and divorced spouses make better decisions for themselves and for their families. The idea grew out of two divorces: Couvrette’s from his first wife, and Shepherd’s then-fiancé’s from his first wife.
They were desperate for information about everything from legal and financial issues to emotional recovery and stepparenting questions – and they figured they’d be in the same boat as a million other separated and divorced people.
Having both worked in magazine publishing for many years, Couvrette and Shepherd were shocked to discover that no one was providing a “one-stop shop” for people struggling with divorce. There were a handful of books, but each one only covered one topic: legal or emotional, financial or children’s issues. Since they couldn’t find what they needed on newsstands – and the Internet was still so new to consumers that there was nothing useful to be found there – they decided to create the magazine and website they needed to read.
The World’s First Divorce Magazine
On March 16, 1996, they published the first issue of Divorce Magazine and launched the first DivorceMagazine.com website – which was a whopping 12 pages long – at the same time. It was received with gratitude by the divorcing public – and with some outrage from people who had never actually seen a copy of the magazine, but who were sure the magazine were encouraging people to leave their spouses for the “delights” of divorce.
Of course, nothing could be further from the truth: Divorce Magazine has always encouraged people to try to save their marriage before making the decision to end it. Anyone who has been through a divorce knows that it is hard – emotionally, financially, and practically. But if ending a marriage is truly the right decision, then there are bad ways and good ways to accomplish this goal. The bad ways will leave individuals and their families emotionally and financially bankrupt, and possibly damage their children for life. The magazine and website were based on teaching couples how to go through the process without burning through their families’ resources fighting to the death over every issue – and, just as importantly, how to help themselves and their children recover emotionally after divorce.
Expert Advice and Support
During the last two decades, they have sought out experts who would not shame or blame readers, but rather offer helpful advice and tips to help them through what is one of the most challenging and stressful periods in anyone’s life. The magazine found respected lawyers, mediators, judges, financial professionals, therapists, and parenting experts to share their best advice.
Today, publisher Couvrette and the magazine's editors continue to search out the best and the brightest professionals to provide this guidance to readers – both in the magazine and on our website. The company also encourages readers to support each other through their blog as well as through the popular divorce-related blogging site, DivorcedMoms.com.
Since Couvrette doesn’t believe in resting on his laurels, he launched Family Lawyer Magazine, a trade publication aimed at divorce professionals, in 2012. Today, the company also offers 10 unique Divorce Guides as well as a family of divorce-related websites – including ChildrenAndDivorceGuide.com and MoneyAndDivorceGuide.com.
To help celebrate their 20th anniversary of serving this community, they’re launching The Divorce School on April 1st. This online learning center will allow visitors to watch videos and listen to podcasts about divorce-related issues – everything from child support and custody to legal and financial issues to infidelity and divorce recovery.
Towards Amicable Divorce
Two decades ago, the only divorce stories the media covered were extremely negative: “The Divorce from Hell” being a good example of the kind of headline one might find in a local magazine or newspaper. Couvrette and Shepherd are proud to have been part of the paradigm shift away from that toxic viewpoint towards civilized, amicable divorce that did not destroy families – emotionally or financially.
Divorce Magazine’s mission has always been to have divorce be civilized, amicable, and transformational. They accomplish this mission by providing expert advice, quality information, and community support at no charge to those who are considering divorce, separated, or divorced. Twenty years ago, they started with a vision of a world where divorcing people could use the experience to grow as human beings, to support each other in co-parenting their children, and to end their marriages with kindness and compassion.
Although society has come a long way down this road in 20 years, there is still some distance to go before all divorces are like this. Until they get there, readers can count on Divorce Magazine to keep on helping to make the lives of divorcing individuals and their families better – both short- and long-term.
Download a copy of the 20th-Anniversary issue of Divorce Magazine here.
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Divorce Magazine and DivorceMagazine.com have been providing individuals and families who are going through the transition of separation and divorce with information, support, and guidance since 1996. The magazine and website are owned by Divorce Marketing Group, which also publishes Family Lawyer Magazine and http://www.FamilyLawyerMagazine.com, http://www.DivorcedMoms.com, as well as a number of other divorce-related publications and websites.
Diana Shepherd, Divorce Marketing Group, http://www.divorcemag.com, +1 (866) 803-6667 Ext: 131, [email protected]
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