Divorce Support Specialist Agencies offer programmes which adopt a child-centric approach. These programmes are delivered by specialist counsellors and social workers to help divorcing and divorced families understand the impact of divorce on children.
Mandatory Parenting Programme
For more information on the Mandatory Parenting Programme, please click here.
Parenting PACT
Parenting PACT is a one-time consultation session for divorced parents with children who are 21 years old and below.
The session aims to help parents:
- understand the impact of divorce on their children
- learn cooperative co-parenting strategies
- practise self-care, and
- get more information about the community support resources available.
This is a two-hour session conducted by family counsellors from the Divorce Support Specialist Agencies.
Divorced parents who are required by the Courts to attend this parenting programme will get a notification to attend Parenting PACT by post.
Contact Info
Email: dssaprogrammes@msf.gov.sg
Children in Between (CiB)
Children in Between is a programme for parents and their children who are between 6 to less than 15 years of age.
The workshops under CiB cover topics for both parents and children:
| CiB for Parents |
CiB for Children |
| Practical Co-parenting skills |
Positive ways to cope with their parents’ divorce |
| Ways to reduce parental conflict |
Exploring feelings and fears, myths and truths |
| Understanding the needs of their children in a divorce situation |
Skills to share their feelings |
This free workshop is run by family counsellors from the Divorce Support Specialist Agencies.
Both parents and their children are encouraged to attend the workshops in separate sessions.
Contact Info
Email: dssaprogrammes@msf.gov.sg
Supervised Exchange and Visitation Programme
The Supervised Exchange and Visitation Programme helps high conflict families manage difficulties over child access matters. It provides a safe platform for children who express strong reluctance and discomfort about meeting their access parent. Counsellors help by mitigating distrust and working on the complex family dynamics.
Supervised Exchange and Visitation is an interim measure to facilitate families to work towards independent child access. The end goal is to help parents co-parent effectively and build secure parent-child relationships over time without compromising the child’s sense of personal and emotional safety.
Thye Hua Kwan Centre for Family Harmony, Care Corner Centre for Co-parenting and Thrive Parenting!AMKFSC Community Service are the 3 appointed Divorce Support Specialist Agencies that offer the Supervised Exchange and Visitation Programme.
This programme is strictly for court ordered cases only.
Discernment Counselling
Discernment Counselling aims to help couples gain clarity and confidence in making a decision about the future of their marriage, based on a deeper understanding of what has happened to their marriage and each person's contribution to the problems. Discernment Counselling is a short term counselling lasting between 1-5 sessions, and is targeted at couples where at least one spouse has doubts or concerns about moving forward with the divorce.
It allows couples to consider three options:
- Path One: Postpone the Decision
- Path Two: Move towards Divorce
- Path Three: Work on the Marrriage
Do note that Discernment Counselling is not marriage counselling intended to solve the couple's marital problems.
Counselling and Support Programmes
During the counselling sessions, individuals and families come together in a safe and confidential platform where they can share experiences and offer mutual support to one another.
Some free support programmes at the DSSAs are:
| Care Corner Centre for Co-Parenting |
| 1 |
Enlivened Hearts Women’s Support Group
The 4-session group work is designed to help women cope with the pain of divorce and to recover from the emotional trauma. |
| HELP Family Service Centre |
| 1 |
Video Conference
A direct video link service to the courts to apply for the enforcement of existing spousal and/or child maintenance orders. |
| 2 |
RAINBOWS
A peer support group to facilitate emotional healing for parents and children. |
| 3 |
The Big Brother and Big Sister (BBBS)
A befriending programme for children aged 10 to 16 who are affected by their parents’ divorce. |
| 4 |
The Family Enrichment Programme (FEP)
This programme provides opportunities for personal growth and development for families by strengthening their family support system. |
| PPIS As-Salaam Family Support Centre |
| 1 |
M.A.W.A.R Support Programme for Single Mothers
This programme provides support to divorced mothers with dependent children. |
| 2 |
SALAAM Support Programme
For children/adolescents who experience grief arising from loss of parents through divorce. |
| Thye Hua Kwan Centre for Family Harmony @ Commonwealth |
| 1 |
Mindfulness Parenting
This programme helps divorcing/divorcedparents to improve their communication skills for better parent-child relationships. |
| 2 |
Daddy’s for Life
A support programme to help divorcing/divorced fathers learn from each other’s experiences, and build a strong relationship with their children |
