BOZEMAN - Divorce is a common reality in the United States and universally.
According to the Institute for Family Studies, 40% of today’s marriages will end in divorce.
While divorce comes with legal battles and financial settlements, Parent Team, a Bozeman-based organization, said divorce affects the entire family – not just the parents.
Watch: Parent Team making a difference for kids through divorce
“We felt like systems within family divorce could be done differently, and better,” said Parent Team Co-Founder and Certified Divorce Financial Analyst (CDFA), Jen Schimbeno.
Parent Team has been providing comprehensive, child-centered resources to support families as they transition to two homes through co-parenting since 2021.
According to their co-parenting guide, Parent Team’s approach is to keep the children out of the middle and out of conflict.
“We do a lot of education for the parents,” explained Parent Team co-founder and Licensed Clinical Professional Counselor (LCPC) for Children and Families, Brandyn Roark Caires.
Caires added that they help parents understand the things we do [as adults] that are "affecting kids developmentally.”
“We don’t want children to waste developmental energy,” she said. “So, that’s a lot of the coaching we do, from a compassionate, non-judgmental lens.”
Caires said Parent Team offers an array of tools and services, including parenting plan guides, mediation, and collaborative divorce planning.
“We’ve got a certified financial divorce analyst [Jen Schimbeno], and we have the therapist and mediator, walking families through their parenting plan guide,” said Caires. “And, then you’ve got the child and family specialist, who is there to hold the children.”
Parent Team’s Child and Family Specialist Bella Bakowsky, who is also a child of divorce, said children often internalize or externalize their feelings.
“So, internalizing – that was definitely me — is keeping things inside, not understanding why this is happening, and not talking to anyone about your feelings.”
Today, Bakowsky uses her personal experience to connect with children and help parents respond and understand what their going through.
“I do a lot of coaching with parents,” said Bakowsky. “There’s lots of moving pieces to this work, but the end goal is for families to be able to move forward in healthy, effective ways.”
Parent Team also offers restoration sessions when relationships within the family have been damaged.
Parent Team’s overall goal is to help families navigate divorce and protect the emotional well-being of everyone involved — especially the children.
“Clients have told us, ‘I see it so clearly what you do. You’re not just looking out for one person — you’re holding the entire family,” shared Schimbeno. “We’re not just aligning with one individual; we’re holding all of you.”
Click here to learn more about what Parent Team has to offer.
