ABSTRACT
The chapter explains a homework assignment to help ease the stress felt by children dealing with separation anxiety. The use of secret signals between a child and the primary caregiver may help the child feel privileged to information that most people do not have, thus making the child feel special. These secret signals represent the promise of the caregiver's return to the child. Separation anxiety can occur at most any time during childhood. Papp believes that repeating daily rituals helps family members demonstrate who they are to one another in reliable ways. According to Giblin, rituals help to facilitate 'developmental transitions, maintenance of stability and continuity, healing processes, and connectedness. According to Imber-Black and Roberts, rituals, in and of themselves, can be beneficial in that they reinforce specific components essential to family health: membership, belief expression, identity, healing, and celebration. Healthy rituallife can also serve to buffer families from toxic effects of stress and pathology'.
