美国国家公共电台 NPR What It's Like To Be A 'Breakup/Divorce Coach'（在线收听）

SCOTT SIMON, HOST:

Maybe Sean Spicer ought to call our next guest. There are now breakup consultants, people who will counsel on how to cope with broken hearts and couples who split apart. We're joined now by Natalia Juarez, who is a breakup expert based in Toronto. She provides services that include post-breakup social media strategy, 24/7 tech support and a post-breakup home cleanse. Ms. Juarez, thanks so much for being with us.

NATALIA JUAREZ: Thank you so much for having me.

SIMON: What kind of issues do you confront?

JUAREZ: Well, there are really two sets of people that I work with. There are the people who have been broken up with and they're working on their recovery. And then there are the people who are looking to initiate a breakup. They just - they have no idea how.

SIMON: And what do you tell people, if you don't mind sharing some of that?

JUAREZ: Well, if someone comes to me and they're looking - they're questioning their relationship, then what I'll generally do is I have an assessment where we run through the relationship to look at what's working, what's not working. And very often the issues just naturally surface. And then they become more clear as to whether or not there are certain things that they can work on their relationship. Or people might become more clear that actually a separation is needed. And if that's the case, then I just have to remind them about the long-term vision.

I can only imagine that if my partner didn't want to be with me that I would want them to let me go, go through the heartache, recover, get back out there and meet someone who genuinely wants to be with me.

SIMON: Have you ever been accused of profiting from people when they're at their most vulnerable?

JUAREZ: I haven't, but I could see how people could view it that way. I don't feel that way. I came into this work - I used to be a schoolteacher. I taught for eight years. And then I went through my second major breakup. And I - already having been through one big breakup, I instinctively knew to get a therapist. I started doing yoga. I took up tango...

SIMON: (Laughter).

JUAREZ: ...Which I loved. And I just - I built this life around me to support me while I was going through this. And my friends who saw me go through that then started coming to me when they were having a hard time in their relationships or going through breakups. And they started connecting me with their friends. So it just - it really naturally grew.

SIMON: And may I ask what you charge?

JUAREZ: I have different price points. I would say probably my most popular package is a retainer of five hours for 500. And I like working on a retainer because sometimes someone might need an hour and a half or they might need a check-in of 15 minutes. And they don't have to wait once a week to talk to me. And I think this is a part of the reason that this work is so effective.

I have a therapist. I love therapy. But I often found when I was going through it that I needed more support. I needed someone who was a little bit more accessible. Like, if something happened or, say, if I heard something or saw something on social media that I could just touch base with this one person who was supporting me through this.

SIMON: Natalia Juarez is a breakup consultant who is based in Toronto. Thanks so much for being with us.

JUAREZ: Thank you so much.