One New Jersey family therapist took to heart President Obama's national service provision. Its a little known portion of the economic recovery plan which calls for a national service plan similar to the Civilian Conservation Corps, which was created in response to the eerily similar Great Depression. But Dr. Alan Singer is doing more to answer the call than the President requested.
In response to a blog posting criticizing the plan, Singer submitted the following:
"I want to take it one step further during these stressful times of increasing unemployment and home foreclosures. I believe it is time to think about giving one day a month to help others by using our profession skills, especially to help those who recently lost their job or their house."
Singer volunteers his services on the weekends, meeting with couples who have been hard hit by the recession and whose marriages are struggling as a result. He spends his "free" time, free in two senses of the word, helping middle aged couples address the loss of the savings and helping younger couples struggle with the decision to begin or expand a family in these tough economic times.
Singer has seen the "nightmarish" stress that unemployment and foreclosure can impose on a marriage. He said there's an overwhelming lack of hope among these victims of the recession, for whom each new day brings only a new bill to pay or resume to submit.
If Singer had his way, these marriages would all survive. His efforts will certainly help some. But, even if divorce is inevitable, Singer's efforts will help these couples deal with the reality of divorce without the negative emotions that cause people to engage in battles over property (even when there is no property to fight over) and children.
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