ABSTRACT
Research indicates that 40%–60% of children across the globe experience the divorce of their parents, which exposes them to a significantly more challenging childhood and adolescence experience. In this chapter, the impact of divorce is discussed through the lens of attachment theory. Divorce can impact the security between parent and child significantly, even if the child exhibits little outward emotion or change in behavior. Many children who come from divorced homes experience heightened anxiety, feel caught in the middle of highly conflictual parental relationships, and worry that they need to choose which parent they can love. Some children experience abandonment following parental separation and divorce, with one parent having little to no interaction with them. The reader is given several strategies as well as attachment centered play therapy interventions to assess for relationship injuries, repair the trust and security within the parent-child relationship, and identify and involve support throughout the child’s ecosystem.
