Bruno Humbeeck is an educational psychologist and a researcher in socio-pedagogy, in school and family environments. A specialist in social breakdown and resilience, his ideas are close to those of Boris Cyrulnik and Jean-Pierre Pourtois. He regularly hosts a Belgian television programme, ‘Une Education presque parfaite’.

‘One learns a lot from a broken heart. Yet most parents will do all they can to shelter their children from the experience. In the current context of overprotective parenting, anything that might possibly damage happiness must be eliminated, denied, obviated. Only joy is worthy of association. And it’s best to avoid everything else. And yet…
‘Whoever remembers the pain of a broken hearted knows how much it taught him about loving. Whoever takes the time to remember will acknowledge that it is often through such unfinished stories that one’s identity is constructed.
‘Obviously, broken hearts, like love at first sight, are not easy experiences to live through. Both take us beyond our daily lives and frequently give the impression that chaos has come crashing into our lives, overturning the normal course of events. But both produce forms of neo-development, which evoke processes of resilience that favour fulfilment in every human being,’ writes Bruno Humbeeck.

• Broken hearts: understanding the various aspects and phases.
• A breakup need not be seen as an affective dead-end but as a necessary step in life.
• A working approach to overcome pain and start loving once more.