"Help, I am feeling overwhelmed..."

As a person involved in a family law case (or in any legal case, for that matter), it is natural for you to feel overwhelmed from time to time. You are dealing with many very personal and sometimes, very strong emotions and on top of it all, you are also expected to participate, in an intelligent and committed way, in your lawyer's work on your behalf.

He or she will ask you to complete forms, gather documents, review drafts of court materials and letters, give instructions, sometimes on short-notice. This can all be quite overwhelming and stressful.

The solution is not to hide and not return your lawyer's calls. The solution is to talk to him or her about it, to ask for help, to accept help being offered and to determine what tasks have to be completed when. It may be that, depending on the context of your particular case, some matters can be delayed a little to give you some breathing room, some time to recharge your battery.

The key is open communication with your lawyer - he or she cannot read your mind, and may not be able to easily appreciate what you are going through if you are "all together" during meetings and telephone conversations. Deal with such stress when it first emerges, not when it's at the point of making you inert and unable to participate in your case.