21st Century Divorce

An interview with family law attorney Laura A. Wasser, Esq. Curt and Katie talk with Laura about the process of divorce, collaboration among professionals, and the creation of her online divorce mediation platform, it’s over easy.

It’s time to reimagine therapy and what it means to be a therapist. We are human beings who can now present ourselves as whole people, with authenticity, purpose, and connection. Especially now, when therapists must develop a personal brand to market their practices.

To support you as a whole person and a therapist, your hosts, Curt Widhalm and Katie Vernoy talk about how to approach the role of therapist in the modern age.

Interview with Laura A. Wasser, Esq. C.E.O. of it’s over easy & Host of The Divorce Sucks! Podcast

Attorney Laura Allison Wasser is an author, entrepreneur, and Family Law expert. She is the
founder and Chief Executive Officer of the online divorce platform, it’s over easy. Laura has represented celebrities like Kim Kardashian, Ryan Reynolds, Angelina Jolie, Jimmy Iovine, Maria Shriver, and Stevie Wonder, but she maintains that divorce is the great equalizer—it terrifies everyone. Laura’s made it her mission to change that by creating it’s over easy, which gives divorcing couples an easy to use resource to dissolve their marriage that is accessible (and affordable) to everyone.

In 2013, Laura authored the New York Times best-seller, It Doesn’t Have to Be That Way: How to
Divorce Without Destroying Your Family and Bankrupting Yourself. This year, she created it’s over
easy and launched the weekly Divorce Sucks! Podcast Hosted By Laura Wasser. By simplifying the
divorce process online and sharing her vast experience in Family Law with her audience, couples
are empowered to reclaim control over their own destinies. Laura is determined to change the
face of divorce by providing education, tools and support for families going through the process.
As a graduate of the UC, Berkeley, Laura earned her law degree from Loyola Law School. She has
been named one of the California Daily Journal’s Top 100 Lawyers and Top 50 Women Attorneys
every year for the last seven years (2012-2018). She has been featured on The Hollywood Reporter’s Power Lawyers, Los Angeles Magazine’s Super Lawyers and The Best Lawyers in America. In June 2008, Laura received the Harriet Buhai Center for Family Law Zephyr Ramsey Award and in 2011, she was the recipient of the Century City Chamber of Commerce Women of Achievement Award. Laura received the Brady Center Advocate Award in 2013. In 2016 Laura was honored by A Place Called Home at their Gala For The Children. Laura is frequently called upon as the preeminent voice on TV, in print and across the media landscape in newsworthy matters regarding Divorce and Family Law. Earlier this year, Laura
participated as a featured speaker at both the 2018 Women In The World Summit and Girlboss
Rally. Profiles and interviews on Laura can be found in Vogue, Bloomberg News, Porter Magazine,
Interview, The Wall Street Journal, Vanity Fair, The Hollywood Reporter, People Magazine, The New
York Times, The Los Angeles Times, Town and Country, Parenting magazine and more.

In this episode we talk about:

Laura’s background in Family Law, her book It Doesn’t Have to Be That Way
How Laura perceives the important distinctions between being an empathic “divorce” lawyer and being a therapist
How people can navigate through divorce by yourselves, without needing to bring in a divorce attorney
The different mechanisms to get a divorce and how to decide which referral to make
How Laura collaborates with therapists and decides to refer to therapists
The importance of handling divorce well for moving forward in your life
Her opinions on how to help families get through the process
Boundaries that attorneys should set within their work
Her referral network, how she develops her referral network
The turn off of therapists talking too much about their own experiences
Reminding ourselves that we are being observed by those who we are collaborating with
The shock of mental health providers breaking confidentiality with her
How she launched her product out to the market (online divorce platform)
Her logic on how she created the platform, with all the pieces considered
The flak she got from some other attorneys
Connecting divorcing individuals to all the resources they need to move through the process effectively
Addressing the broken, clogged up court system
How to create closure when getting divorced
The power of helping people get the knowledge they need

Resources mentioned:

We’ve pulled together any resources mentioned in this episode and put together some handy-dandy links. Please note that some of the links below are affiliate links, so if you purchase after clicking below, we may get a little bit of cash in our pockets. We thank you in advance!

It Doesn’t Have to be That Way: How to Divorce Without Destroying Your Family or Bankrupting Yourself by Laura Wasser

it’s over easy

it’s over easy blog: Co-Parenting with an Asshole

Our Generous Sponsor:

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Who we are:

Curt Widhalm is a Licensed Marriage & Family Therapist in private practice in the Los Angeles area. He is a Board Member at Large for the California Association of Marriage and Family Therapists, a Subject Matter Expert for the California Board of Behavioral Sciences, Adjunct Faculty at Pepperdine University, and a loving husband and father. He is 1/2 great person, 1/2 provocateur, and 1/2 geek, in that order. He dabbles in the dark art of making “dad jokes” and usually has a half-empty cup of coffee somewhere nearby. Learn more about Curt at http://www.curtwidhalm.com.

Katie Vernoy is a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist, coach, and consultant. As a helping professional for two decades, she’s navigated the ups and downs of our unique line of work. She’s run her own solo therapy practice, designed innovative clinical programs, built and managed large, thriving teams of service providers, and consulted hundreds of helping professionals on how to build meaningful AND sustainable practices. In her spare time, Katie is secretly siphoning off Curt’s youthful energy, so that she can take over the world. Learn more about Katie at http://www.katievernoy.com.

A Quick Note:

Our opinions are our own. We are only speaking for ourselves – except when we speak for each other, or over each other. We’re working on it.

Our guests are also only speaking for themselves and have their own opinions. We aren’t trying to take their voice, and no one speaks for us either. Mostly because they don’t want to, but hey.