2026 Theme: Fill Your Life with Light and Truth
 

We welcome applications from individuals who will offer excellent, uplifting, and testimony building instruction in a wide variety of topics that are related to divorce. These topics include, but are not limited to daily life, the gospel, family and relationships, communication, finance, personal development, mental health, and others.

As we review the needs for the upcoming program, we will consider all applications and proposed topics. Thank you for your interest and support, we look forward to hearing from you.

Please note: 

• BYU Life After Divorce presenter applications are open year round. To be considered for the 2026 conference, the application is due by Monday, August 10, 2026. 
• BYU Life After Divorce presenters are not allowed to promote any personal projects, products or business and there is no compensation for speaking.
• Information on teaching at BYU Education Week can be found here (separate application). 
• Information on presenting at BYU Women's Conference can be found here (separate application, scroll to the bottom of the page).
• Only those who are selected to be a presenter will be contacted (September 2026) through email.

Thank you! BYU Continuing Education Events staff

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Before beginning the application process, please read this page thoroughly. The information on how to apply follows these instructions.

Qualifications we will be considering:

• Educational and/or professional background and/or experience.
• Thorough preparation in proposed field/topic.
• Teaching ability, communication skills, sincerity, and an ability to build faith centered in Jesus Christ.
• Willingness to adhere to BYU Continuing Education policy that prohibits promotion of any personal goods or services or any organization or its products.
• Ecclesiastical endorsement (BYU will do the contacting with each presenter's ecclesiastical leader)
• Subject matter:
  • Timeliness, practicality, pertinence, and appropriateness of topic
  • Necessity of topics to balance the program
  • Clearance of titles and lecture outlines by the Church Correlation Committee.

Potential presentation formats:

Classroom style—an instructor teaching at a podium, 40–50 minutes

Ted-talk style—an instructor speaking on a single subject, no podium, 20-25 minutes

Panel/round table style—2 or 3 instructors teaching and discussing together at a table, 40–50 minutes

When applying to teach, please include:

• proposed title
• short description of the class
• outline of teaching points and resources

The following is a sample of a title, description, outline and resources.

Title: Growing through Divorce: Understanding and Overcoming Hurt and Grief

Description: When someone experiences divorce, feelings can range from relief to absolute grief. Feelings are so personal they can sometimes be difficult to understand and process. We may wonder if our feelings are valid and if life will ever go on in a new, normal way. This session is intended to provide solace and hope for those in any circumstance and to encourage them to keep going and keep seeking for the hope and peace that is promised through Jesus Christ because of His Atonement. We will discuss the real and valid feelings that accompany divorce and how to work through the cycle of hurt, anger, and grief and ultimately find hope, healing, and peace.

Outline and resources:

Teaching Point 1: There is usually no grieving ritual for those experiencing divorce. However, a true grieving process is required to heal.

Resources:
Robert Emery · Professor of Psychology; Director of Center for Children, Families and the Law Professor Robert Emery from the University of Virginia adds a remarkable insight about four complexities to divorce grieving that often make it even more of a challenge than other kinds of grieving processes:

• Divorce grief is often disguised by other feelings and even emergencies (for example, financial concerns) to the point that a person can be unaware of the extent of his grief.
• Our society offers most divorcing parents no grieving ritual that plays the role of a funeral for the marriage.
• The very people a divorcing parent would likely grieve with over any other loss can become unavailable—one's spouse, in-laws, and even valued friends can be part of the losses of divorce.
• At least in our minds, divorce is a potentially reconcilable loss, leaving us with the sense it can go ungrieved by avoiding it altogether.

Teaching Point 2: Accept that healing may come in stages. Keep your focus on the Savior

Resources:
“With God Nothing Shall Be Impossible” April 1988 / Elder Russell M. Nelson

Coping with Grief and Loss

Teaching Point 3: When might I need to seek help from a qualified mental health professional to help me process?

Resources:
Elder Jeffrey R. Holland, “Like a Broken Vessel,” Ensign, Nov. 2013, 41

Mental Health

Teaching Point 4: How can I deal with these feelings and challenges with an eternal perspective?

Resources:
Isaiah 53:4–5

Elder Ulisses Soares, “Jesus Christ: The Caregiver of Our Soul” April 2021 General Conference

Elder Dieter F. Uchtdorf, “Be Not Afraid, Only Believe,” Ensign, Nov. 2015.

NOTE: Things to remember:

• All titles and content must be consistent with the teachings of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
• Avoid dealing in absolutes. There is rarely a best, most important, or easy anything.
• Avoid dealing in lists of things someone “must do” to overcome a. b. or c. We each walk different paths.
• Avoid wording that implies that you have "secret" or "never-before-known" information, or that you have knowledge that is unavailable to the general populace.
• Be concise and to the point, but keep in mind that each title should reflect accurately what you intend to teach rather than just being an enticement or a clever adage.
• Be sensitive to both women's and men's feelings and emotions, avoid wording that downplays the importance of either a man's or a woman's role.
• If your title is of a religious nature, consider as models the titles of presentations given at LDS General Conferences.
• Please do not submit titles that are subject to misunderstanding or misinterpretation or which are speculative.
• Titles dwelling on the negative aspects of subjects, titles that encourage playing the devil's advocate, and titles that can lead to a disagreement among participants are not appropriate.
• Titles of distributed or published DVDs, CDs, books, podcasts, workbooks, etc. should not be used as class titles.
• Titles that suggest a specific relationship with a single member of the Godhead are not appropriate.
• When considering titles and content about subjects of a sacred nature, avoid a frivolous, joking, or sarcastic slant.

To apply to teach at the 2026 BYU Life After Divorce Conference, please fill out the questionnaire

Once all of your information is received in our office, your video and outline will be reviewed. If selected you will receive an email and link to begin your ecclesiastical clearance in late August or early September. The ecclesiastical release authorizes BYU to contact your ecclesiastical leader regarding eligibility.

Once completed, a member of the staff will contact you about your availability during the conference. If you are not a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, the director will call you to go over the ecclesiastical questions and your availability.

PLEASE NOTE: There is no compensation for teaching at the BYU Life After Divorce conference. There is a small travel stipend for those that would need to drive from the areas near Logan or St. George, or fly in from out-of-state. There is no on-campus housing available for the conference, however, there are several hotels available near campus that are listed on our website.