How not to get divorced during quarantine? Over the past week, I have had an increase in the number of new requests for advice from married couples. While working with new clients, it became clear that the situation with coronavirus and forced quarantine led to an escalation of intra-family conflicts. Moreover, the conflicts are so dramatic that many couples came to the intention of getting a divorce, and turned to me as their last hope to find opportunities to save the family. How quarantine and coronavirus influenced the intensification of conflicts: - a general increase in anxiety - concerns about the financial well-being of the family (increasing burden on a man that he must be a reliable provider for the family at all times) - disruption of plans for a long-awaited vacation (there is no opportunity to relieve accumulated stress and relax) - conflicts due to the fact that there is nowhere to put children during quarantine - increase in overall fatigue, due to the fact that children are always at home and need to be occupied and entertained with something; remote work from home (especially if there are children in the family who make it difficult to concentrate on work, which causes additional stress and irritation); for different attitudes towards the danger of the epidemic (one of the spouses buys buckwheat, and the second considers it absurd) - a decrease in the opportunity to have fun (cinema, cafes, etc.) and be distracted from problems in relationships - in general, all family members began to spend more time together , and therefore less opportunity to avoid or ignore conflict, as well as less personal space and time. For some families, quarantine turned out to be a good opportunity to strengthen relationships and be together, while for others, quarantine became a catalyst for problems that most likely existed before, but have now flared up, and it has become impossible not to pay attention to them. What to do? to prevent all of the above factors from shaking family relationships? I offer a number of recommendations that I wrote based on observations of different families during this period: Physical activity in the fresh air, especially if there are children in the family. If possible, take them out into nature, for example, to the country house. This will help relieve stress and fatigue for adults, and for children - not to go crazy from boredom within four walls. Collective games, both outdoor and board games. Use the quarantine time to create more memories together, where all family members laugh and have fun. Quarantine is a time to engage in self-development. For example, find some online training courses for children and adults. And quarantine is also a great time to accustom family members to order and distribute family responsibilities, if this issue has not been resolved earlier. You can clean, cook, take care of the house, flowers, animals, etc. together. It is important to allocate personal space and time to each family member, especially adults, so that they can just relax and be alone with themselves. Sometimes 15 minutes of peace and quiet can prevent a big scandal. If you need to work from home, spell out the rules in as much detail as possible and set clear boundaries. For example, I will work from 10.00 to 13.00. During this period, do not approach me, do not distract me. Don't rely on other family members to figure out that you need it. When working remotely, take breaks and communicate with your family. The option: I went to work from 8.00 to 22.00 and don’t come to me - it’s unlikely to help family relationships. For relaxation, use communication with your family instead of surfing the Internet and other distracting activities. Be understanding of your partner's concerns. If he needs to buy 3 packs of buckwheat to relieve anxiety, then ok, let him do it. Instead of scolding and blaming, just support and say: I understand your anxiety, but we are together and we can handle everything. The same phrase can be used if your partner is worried about finances or other problems that have become relevant during the economic crisis and pandemic. Take time to resolve issues, tasks and discuss)