Divorce is hard enough on its own. Add kids to the picture and the stakes get significantly higher. You're managing legal proceedings, financial decisions, and a complete restructuring of daily life, all while trying to figure out how to protect your children from the fallout.

Most parents going through divorce want the same thing: to get through this without negatively impacting their kids. That's a reasonable goal. It's also harder than it sounds, especially when you're dealing with your own stress, grief, or anger at the same time.

Therapy isn't a fix-all, and it won't make your divorce painless for your children. But it can give you real, practical tools to be a more steady and effective parent during one of the most destabilizing periods of your family's life.

The word gets used constantly. Here's what it actually means, and why it's harder than it sounds.

If you've spent any time in therapy, read a self-help book, or even had a conversation with a friend about a difficult relationship, you've heard the word "boundaries." It gets thrown around so often that it's started to lose meaning.

"Set better boundaries. You need to have boundaries. Their boundaries are all over the place."

But when people actually try to explain what a boundary is, things get fuzzy fast. Is it something you say? Something you feel? A rule you enforce? A wall you put up?

Here's a clearer way to think about it, one that's actually useful.