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Being Human Podcast - Episode 115: Hope for Adult Children of Divorce, w/ Dr. Daniel Meola

podcast Jan 01, 2020

Welcome to Episode 115 of the Being Human Podcast: Hope for Adult Children of Divorce, w/ Dr. Daniel Meola

What happens when divorce or separation of your parents is part of your story? This experience can oftentimes result in hidden yet painful wounds which can seem complicated and difficult to navigate. In this week’s podcast episode, Dr. Greg interviews Dr. Daniel Meola, the co-founder of a non-profit organization which ministers to adult children of divorce or separation. Sharing their own experiences as adult children of divorce, Dr. Greg and Dr. Daniel break open the impact that divorce can have on a child while also offering hope for healing and resources to help. 

 

Discussed in this episode:

  • Meet Dr. Daniel Meola and get to know more about Life-Giving Wounds, a non-profit ministry for adult children of divorce or separation;  
  • Dr. Daniel’s experience of his parent’s 15-year separation and eventual divorce, along with the resulting effects on his life;
  • The hope and healing possible for each person, whether as an adult child of divorce or an adult who went through a divorce or separation;
  • The desire of a child to have two parents loving him/her together, and the resulting pain that happens when it is lost; 
  • The tendency in our culture to not recognize parental divorce or separation as a loss to be grieved by the child;
  • Annulment as more than just a spiritual issue with spiritual impact; 
  • Identity questions that can affect adult children of divorce due to the separation of their parents;
  • Common ways that guilt for their parent’s divorce or separation can be experienced by adult children of divorce; 
  • How children highlight and amplify any interpersonal or relational issues already present in a marriage;
  • Implicit and explicit ways that parents communicate to their child that the failure of their relationship was the child’s fault;
  •  The seven common wounds identified by Dr. Daniel’s ministry in adult children of divorce;  
  • The rejection and shame that can result in a child as a result of his/her parent’s rejection of one another.

 

Resources mentioned or relevant:

Contact us! Have a topic or a question you would like Dr. Greg to address on the podcast? Want to give some feedback about this episode? Email us at [email protected] - we would love to hear from you!

 

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About Dr. Daniel Meola 

Dr. Daniel Meola is an adult child of divorce who earned his Ph.D. in Theology of Marriage and Family from the Pontifical John Paul II Institute for Studies on Marriage and Family in Washington, D.C. He has been leading retreats and support groups for adult children of divorce or separation since 2015 in the Archdiocese of Washington, and in 2018 he co-founded Life-Giving Wounds with his wife Bethany to spread the retreat, support groups, and other ministry to adult children of divorce or separation around the country.

Dan has over fifteen years of experience running retreats and giving presentations to various groups, including for youth, young adults, engaged couples, and families. He and his wife Bethany live in Maryland with their two daughters. 

 

About Dr. Greg Bottaro and the CatholicPsych Institute

Dr. Greg Bottaro is a Catholic psychologist, founder of the CatholicPsych Institute, and developer of the CatholicPsych Model of Applied Personalism (CPMAP). He received his Doctorate in Clinical Psychology from the Institute for the Psychological Sciences, a graduate school that integrates Catholic philosophy and theology with sound, empirically validated psychology.

Before his degree, Dr. Bottaro discerned a religious vocation with the Franciscan Friars of the Renewal (CFRs). He lived four years in the Bronx, serving the poor in the tradition of St. Francis of Assisi. Under the mentorship of Fr. Benedict Groeschel, this experience helped him form a spirituality based on Abandonment to Divine Providence which he now applies to psychological principles in his practice. He learned from Fr. Benedict how to discern God's voice and live a life in service to others.

Six years after leaving NYC as a friar, he returned as a psychologist. The CatholicPsych Institute began there in 2012 and has since continued to expand, now serving clients around the globe.

Dr. Bottaro currently lives in Connecticut with his wife Barbra and their seven children. He actively avoids watching the news and spends his free time thinking up crazy new ideas on how to make the world a better place.  

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