Press and media
Everything you need to write about Rebuilders International, divorce recovery, or the data we publish. Free to use with attribution.
Fast facts
Every figure below is published with its sample size and links to its source. Use freely with attribution to Rebuilders International.
| Finding | Detail |
|---|---|
| A third of people going through divorce get worse, not better, while they wait | 35% of 131 people who took a divorce adjustment assessment twice, roughly twelve weeks apart, with no program in between, scored lower the second time. Outcome report, 2026 |
| Every student with verified before-and-after results improved | All 56 students whose assessments could be matched to their class dates improved. The typical student moved from the 49th to the 84th percentile in ten weeks. Outcome report, 2026 |
| Nearly 7 in 10 people seeking divorce recovery have not finished their divorce | Of 5,309 people taking a divorce adjustment assessment, 23% were considering divorce and 46% were still in the process. Only 31% were divorced. Rebuilders assessment data, 2023–2026 |
| Half of the people seeking divorce recovery were left, not leavers | Asked who initiated the divorce, 51% of 5,319 respondents said their partner did, 37% said they did, and 12% described it as mutual. Rebuilders assessment data, 2023–2026 |
| Divorce adjustment can be measured, not just described | The Fisher Divorce Adjustment Scale is a 100-item instrument developed in 1976 and revised in 1978. Independent validation across 486 divorced adults reported internal consistency of .93. The assessments |
| Rebuilders publishes monthly divorce recovery data | The Divorce Recovery Index reports adjustment across four phases each month, drawn from assessments completed by people entering divorce recovery. Divorce Recovery Index |
The award
Rebuilders International received the Best Divorce Recovery Program in the United States of 2026 award from Best of Best Review (bestofbestreview.com), 25 June 2026. Please use that exact wording and attribution.
Boilerplate
Copy and paste. Both versions name rebuilders.net, which is where readers going through a divorce should be sent.
SHORT — 40 words
Rebuilders International trains mental health professionals and divorce coaches in the Rebuilding method, developed by Dr. Bruce Fisher over more than forty years. Individuals going through divorce can find programs, classes and a free self-assessment at rebuilders.net.
LONG — 120 words
Rebuilders International trains mental health professionals and divorce coaches in the Rebuilding method, developed by Dr. Bruce Fisher over more than forty years and taught through its RIFT framework: Relationships, Identity, Feelings and Thinking.
The organisation administers the Fisher Divorce Adjustment Scale, an independently validated 100-item assessment of divorce recovery, and publishes the Divorce Recovery Index — a monthly measure of how people going through divorce are actually doing. Rebuilders runs local programs across the United States, Australia and the Spanish-speaking Americas.
Individuals going through divorce can find programs, classes and a free self-assessment at rebuilders.net.
About Rebuilders
100 WORDS
Rebuilders International is a divorce recovery organisation built on Dr. Bruce Fisher's Rebuilding methodology, refined over more than four decades and read by millions through his book. Rebuilders simplified that work into RIFT — four phases covering Relationships, Identity, Feelings and Thinking — and trains therapists, coaches and facilitators to use it with clients.
What distinguishes the organisation is measurement. Every participant takes a validated assessment before and after, which allows Rebuilders to publish outcome data and monthly norms rather than relying on testimonial. Individuals can find programs and a free self-assessment at rebuilders.net.
250 WORDS
Rebuilders International is a divorce recovery organisation working with both the people going through divorce and the professionals who serve them.
Its method descends from Dr. Bruce Fisher, whose Rebuilding programme was developed over more than forty years and whose book has sold in the millions. Fisher's original system runs to roughly nineteen building blocks — thorough, and difficult to hold in mind during a session. Rebuilders reorganised it into four phases known as RIFT: Relationships, Identity, Feelings and Thinking. The letters run in the order a relationship comes apart; recovery works back the other way, beginning with the thoughts that consume a person and ending with their capacity to trust.
The organisation administers the Fisher Divorce Adjustment Scale, a 100-item instrument developed in 1976 and independently validated in several countries. Participants take it before and after a programme, which allows outcomes to be measured rather than asserted. Rebuilders publishes those outcomes, including its limitations, and releases monthly population norms through the Divorce Recovery Index.
Rebuilders trains licensed therapists and unlicensed divorce professionals, offering continuing education credit, and supports local programmes across the United States, Australia and the Spanish-speaking Americas.
It received the Best Divorce Recovery Program in the United States of 2026 award from Best of Best Review.
Individuals going through divorce can find programmes, classes and a free self-assessment at rebuilders.net. Professionals can find training at rebuildersinternational.com.
Story angles
Subjects we can speak to with data rather than opinion.
"Give it time" is bad advice
The most common thing said to a divorcing person is that time will heal it. Our data shows a third of people get worse over twelve weeks of waiting. Divorce adjustment does not reliably improve on its own.
Divorce has seasons
Filings spike in January. Adjustment scores move across the year. We publish monthly readings and can discuss what changes and when.
How long does it actually take to get over a divorce?
The usual answers are folklore — half the length of the relationship, a year for every five. We measure adjustment directly and can speak to what the data shows.
Most people getting divorce help aren't divorced yet
The majority of people seeking divorce recovery support are still in the middle of the process, which has consequences for how services, courts and clinicians time their help.
The people seeking help are mostly the ones who were left
Half of those taking a divorce adjustment assessment say their partner ended the marriage, against 37% who ended it themselves. Help-seeking after divorce is not evenly distributed between the two people in it.
Why therapists struggle with divorcing clients
Most clinical training assumes a relationship is being repaired. When it is ending, the familiar moves stop working and there is little structure to fall back on.
Publishing your own failures
Rebuilders publishes the limits of its evidence alongside its results, including an error we found and corrected in our own outcome analysis. Rare enough in this field to be a story about the field.
Leadership
Kevin Van Liere
Chief Executive Officer
Founded Rebuilders International after his own divorce in 2017 and developed the RIFT framework. An engineering background shapes the organisation's emphasis on measurement over testimonial. Based in Colorado.
Can speak to: divorce recovery data, why the field lacks measurement, the Fisher method, running programmes internationally.
Nick Meima
Co-founder, Lead Divorce Coach and Lead Course Facilitator
Holds a bachelor's in psychology and master's degrees in marriage and family counselling and in gerontology, with twenty years seeing clients in private practice and further training in group facilitation and organisational consulting.
Can speak to: what happens inside a ten-week programme, common patterns in recovery, group facilitation, the method's history.
Anne Marsh, LCSW
Expert Divorce Coach
Licensed clinical social worker with a master's in social work and more than thirty years working with individuals, families and groups in therapy. Went through the Rebuilders programme herself after her own marriage ended in 2018, then trained as a facilitator.
Can speak to: clinical practice with divorcing clients, therapist training, what practitioners get wrong, the experience from both sides.
Kathryn Beachy
Divorce and Relationship Coach
Certified divorce and transformational love coach with over a decade of coaching experience and twenty-three years as a leader in mind-body wellness. Based in Colorado.
Can speak to: the somatic side of divorce recovery, dating and readiness, rebuilding intimacy after divorce.
Logos and assets
Everything below is free to use in coverage of Rebuilders International. No form, no sign-up — right-click any image to save it, or use the full-resolution link beneath it.
Images shown here are compressed for the page. For print or anything at size, use the full-resolution link rather than saving the thumbnail.
Logos
Please don't alter proportions or recolour. Brand blue is #172B68. Accent yellow is #f5e663. Typefaces are Montserrat and Open Sans.
Headshots
Kevin Van Liere, Nick Meima, Anne Marsh, Kathryn Beachy.
Programme photography
Sessions in progress, the book, and the assessment.
Charts
Published outcome and index data as ready-to-use graphics. Please keep the Rebuilders attribution visible.
Need a different format, a higher resolution, or something we haven't posted? Email [email protected] and tell us where it'll appear — we'll send whatever you need.
Selected coverage
Coverage of Rebuilders International and our published data will be listed here.
Press contact
For interviews, data requests, or comment on divorce and divorce recovery:
We aim to respond within one business day. If you're on deadline, say so in the subject line and we'll move faster.
Citing our data
Our published research is free to cite. Suggested format:
Rebuilders International. "Divorce Recovery Index, [month] [year]." rebuildersinternational.com/divorce-recovery-index
Rebuilders International. "Divorce Recovery Outcome Report." September 2026. rebuildersinternational.com/research/outcome-report.pdf
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