SYMPOSIUM THEMES

Relational trauma and disorganised attachment in children of divorce and separation

Irrespective of the quality of the parenting they receive, infants are evolutionarily predisposed to build and maintain intimate bonds with their primary caregivers. However, children who are brought up in the care of a parent who is frightening, neglectful or enmeshing are at risk of developing attachment strategies that are significantly sub-optimal, placing the child at greater risk at times of relational stress, such as divorce or family separation.

A disorganised (also referred to as fearful-avoidant) attachment style develops because the child's primary source of safety is also a source of fear. Children who reject an attachment figure in the arena of divorce or family separation are typically displaying disorganised attachment behaviours and it is this that must be addressed in order to heal the child's underlying psychological difficulties.

Focussing on the latest psychodynamic, developmental, neurological, attachment, and trauma literature, this symposium will explore the psychological and structural dynamics that lead to a child's rejection of an attachment figure, and consider the therapeutic implications.

Listening to the voices of harmed children

In the clamour that surrounds the removal, by the family courts, of children found to have been harmed by a parent in the context of divorce or separation, the voices of those children are often left unheard. This symposium seeks to bring those voices back into the debate by foregrounding the experiences of children living with psychologically abusive parenting and hearing directly from two now-adult children who were protected from harm through removal and transfer of residence by the family courts.

Offering personal testimony of life before, during and after removal, the speakers will provide real-life insight into the lives of children living with harming parents. Drawing on their own experiences, they will share their thoughts and feelings about the loss of ambivalence in the care of a parent with complex and uncontained defences and personality traits.

Following its official launch at the House of Lords, recently, the symposium is delighted to welcome the author of Choosing yourself when your parents separate: A young people's survival guide. We are proud to showcase this wonderful new book, written by a formerly alienated child.

Please note: In order to protect the privacy of young speakers, their faces will not be shown on the live video stream.

Understanding the phenomenological experiences of children whose residence has been changed by the family courts

The Family Separation Clinic has commissioned a research study into the phenomenological experiences of children whose residence has been changed by the family courts, with therapeutic support from the Clinic. The purpose of the study is to provide insights into the lived experience of children who have been moved, under court order, from the care of a parent who has been found to have harmed them into the care of a parent that the child has, hitherto, been rejecting.

In an environment where discourse is often highly partisan, it is intended that the research will provide therapists, psychologists, social workers, judges, policy makers and others working in the field with the authentic testimonies of children in such a way that it informs their decision making and professional practice. It will present the children as subjects of their own lived experience rather than as objects of parental dispute and will seek to make tentative conclusions about the efficacy of utilising this approach to child protection.

The first phase of this groundbreaking project is due to be completed in 2025. However, the research team will present the symposium with its interim findings.

Managing complex psychological dynamics in a family law setting

Whilst a child's unambivalent rejection of an attachment figure typically indicates the presence of complex psychological dynamics, such cases usually present themselves in the courts through legal proceedings that are focussed on determining which parent the child will live with and how they should spend time with the other.

Using recently published family law judgements, this symposium will look at the structural difficulties in managing complex cases, together with case management approaches to ensure that the child's welfare best interests remain at the heart of every judicial process.

The critical role of social work in protecting children from psychological harm

Non-Accidental Injury is a social work term used to describe physical injuries or abuse to a child. The term describes any injury that is thought to have been inflicted, even when the action that led to the injury may not have been witnessed. Inducing significant defensive maladaptations and the sustained interruption of a child's healthy development may be considered such an injury and, if a parent cannot or will not stop what they are doing, the level of harm may be considered to have met the welfare threshold. In such circumstances, social workers are ideally placed to intervene in order to protect children from further harm.

With this in mind, the Family Separation Clinic has developed its Social Work Intervention Pathway, for use by social workers, which has been successfully trialed by statutory services in England and is now also being used in several EU countries and Hong Kong. The Pathway is underpinned by protocols that protect the child and constrain the harmful parental behaviours prior to any treatment plan being implemented.

The symposium will explore the opportunities and challenges facing social workers in their management of these complex cases and will hear case studies that will illustrate how social work may best protect children at risk.

The impact of family violence on children in family separation

Children's responses to being in the care of violent or abusive caregivers can be complex. Indeed, as Sándor Ferenczi noted, children who are in the care of overpowering parents, those who may be violent, coercive, or enmeshing, may 'subordinate themselves like automata to the will of the aggressor to divine each one of his desires and to gratify these.' In such cases, both the harm and the source of the harm may be difficult to detect and professionals can find themselves looking in the wrong direction when trying to protect the child.

Children may also suffer harm, indirectly, if the abuse affects either or both parents' ability to provide proper care, or the capacity of a safe parent to provide the attuned, therapeutic input to support a child's recover from attachment disruption, is impaired.

The symposium will explore the complexities of interpersonal relationships within the family and consider how to protect children who have been silenced through fear of a terrorising, engulfing or out-of-control parent.

Journal launch: The Journal of Childhood Relational Trauma

This year will see the launch of a brand new open access journal. The Journal of Childhood Relational Trauma will publish articles relating to all forms of childhood relational trauma that arise within a relationship to a significant caregiver, including abuse, neglect, and enmeshment, but with a particular focus on relational trauma that emerges within, or is caused by, family transformation, disharmony and dissolution.

The journal is intended to reach a global audience of professionals with an interest in the issue of childhood relational trauma including, but not limited to, psychotherapists, psychiatrists, psychologists, social workers, lawyers, judges, family evaluators, child protection professionals, and health professionals. It will publish original research-based articles on treatment modalities and methods as well as theoretical contributions relating to the aetiology, identification, and treatment of childhood relational trauma.