About
Dr. Hughes' book, Home Will Never Be the Same Again: A Guide for Adult Children of Gray Divorce was published in 2020 by Rowman and Littlefield.
She also writes regularly for online magazines such as Psychology Today, a blog called "Home Will Never Be the Same Again: Guidance for the families of gray divorce." https://www.psychologytoday.com/ca/blog/home-will-never-be-the-same-again
Dr. Hughes is a California licensed Marriage and Family Therapist, EMDR therapist, and family-focused divorce professional in private practice in Laguna Hills, CA. She holds her doctoral degree in Clinical Psychology, achieving both summa cum laude and Phi Beta Kappa honors and is a two-time Fulbright Scholar. Carol is also board-certified in clinical hypnotherapy.
For more than thirty years, she has helped adults, adolescents, and children heal their pain. For ten years, Carol served as an associate professor of Human Services at Saddleback College, training prospective counselors, therapists, and others pursuing professions in human services.
In addition to her work as an individual, couples, and family therapist, Dr. Hughes has served as a court-ordered family therapist, reunification therapist, child and co-parenting specialist, collaborative divorce coach, and mediator. She has assisted hundreds of parents and children facing separation and divorce.
Carol was a co-founder of Collaborative Divorce Solutions of Orange County a non-profit interdisciplinary practice group of divorce professionals dedicated to respectful, peaceful, out-of-court divorce solutions for families. She has advanced training in Collaborative divorce interdisciplinary team practice, family mediation, interest-based negotiation, developmental issues of children of divorce, domestic violence, trauma recovery, chemical dependency, and eating disorders.
She was a co-founder of the Collaborative Divorce Education Institute, a non-profit organization whose mission was to provide excellent training for collaborative professionals and education for the public about peaceful and respectful solutions for families who are restructuring before, during and after the divorce process. She served as a senior trainer and vice president of the board of directors.
She has served on the Board of Directors of Collaborative Practice of California (CP Cal), the Professional Outreach Committee, and the CP Cal Annual Conference Program Committee. In 2011 CP Cal honored Carol with the Eureka Award that recognizes those who have made significant contributions and demonstrated an abiding dedication to establishing and sustaining Collaborative Practice in California.
Carol frequently trains and mentors mediation and collaborative divorce professionals, and she has appeared on the Time Warner Public television series “How to Get a Divorce.” She is a frequent presenter about the effects of divorce on families at annual conferences for lawyers, mental health professionals, and divorce financial professionals, such as Collaborative Practice California, the International Academy of Collaborative Professionals, and the Association of Family and Conciliation Courts.
She lives in Dana Point, California, with her loving husband and therapy dog Friede, whose name means "peace" in German. Her favorite past times are running with Friede and gardening. Their adult daughters are intelligent, athletic, and all-around lovely young women.
Featured Work
Home Will Never Be the Same Again: A Guide for Adult Children of Gray Divorce
Adult children are often overlooked and forgotten when their parents divorce later in life, but in these pages they will find comfort and understanding for the many feelings, frustrations, and challenges they face.
For more than two decades, a silent revolution has been occurring and creating a seismic shift in the American family and families in other countries. It has been unfolding without much comment, and its effects are being felt across three to four generations: more couples are divorcing later in life. Called the “gray divorce revolution,” the cultural phenomenon describes couples who divorce after the age of 50.
Overlooked in the issues that affect couples divorcing later in in life are the adult children of divorcing parents. Their voices open this book, and they are the voices of men and women, 18 to 50 years old. Some of them are single; some are married. Some have children of their own. All of them are in different stages of shock, fear, and sudden, dramatic change.
In Home Will Never Be the Same: A Guide for Adult Children of Gray Divorce, Carol Hughes and Bruce Fredenburg share their deep understanding gained during the innumerable hours they have spent with these women and men in their clinical practices. The result is a valuable resource for these too often forgotten adult children, many of whom find that, whenever they express their feelings and experiences, the most important people in their lives frequently ignore and dismiss them.
As the divorce rate for older adults soars, so too does the number of adult children who are experiencing parental divorce. Yet, these adult children frequently say that they are the only ones who are aware of what they are going through, no one understands what they are experiencing, and they feel painfully alone.
Other Works
Awards and Recognition
- Phi Beta Kappa, Two time Fulbright Scholar, Eureka Award from Collaborative Practice California
