What Is 'Conscious Uncoupling'?

Gwyneth Paltrow announced on her lifestyle website Goop last week that after over 10 years of marriage to Coldplay singer Chris Martin, they have made the decision to go their separate ways.

She posted the following:

“It is with hearts full of sadness that we have decided to separate. We have been working hard for well over a year, some of it together, some of it separated, to see what might have been possible between us, and we have come to the conclusion that while we love each other very much we will remain separate... We have always conducted our relationship privately, and we hope that as we consciously uncouple and coparent, we will be able to continue in the same manner.”

The term ‘conscious uncoupling’ trended on Twitter for the first time last week but what does it actually mean?

Katherine Woodward Thomas, a marriage and family therapist and author has defined the term as "a proven process for lovingly completing a relationship that will leave you feeling whole and healed and at peace."

Dr. Habib Sadeghi & Dr. Sherry Sami have described it as “the ability to understand that every irritation and argument was a signal to look inside ourselves and identify a negative internal object that needed healing”. They believe that “if we can remain conscious of this during our uncoupling, we will understand it’s how we relate to ourselves internally as we go through an experience that’s the real issue, not what’s actually happening… It’s conscious uncoupling that prevents families from being broken by divorce and creates expanded families that continue to function in a healthy way outside of traditional marriage.”

Still confused? I don’t blame you. But we expected nothing less from the Hollywood star and her holistic approach to life. Conscious uncoupling could indicate a collaborative way of approaching a divorce rather than viewing it as a battle in order help to minimise the pain and stress of going through the process.  One thing is for sure, conscious uncoupling sounds so much better than divorcing and the term will be popping up a whole lot more now that ‘A’ listers have put this new trend into motion.