Working with Strained Parent-Child Relationships Post Separation and Divorce: Is It Time for a Trauma Informed Approach?

Background: 

Children resisting or refusing parental contact post separation/divorce face significant challenges due to complex family dynamics, family court involvement, and inconsistent professional views on the etiology and consequences of this problem. Added to this is the lack of evidence-informed approaches to assist these families.  Children may resist/refuse contact for various reasons: alignment with one parent, exposure to domestic violence, child maltreatment, and chronic conflict.  A review of court cases reveals that approximately 30% are mandated into treatment while little empirical evidence exists on interventions. No practice guidelines are available resulting in multiple approaches with little theoretical foundation.

The purpose of this study was to examine how interventions are understood and practiced among experienced mental health professionals working with these families, and their understanding of underlying theories.

 Methods:

A hermeneutic phenomenological design (McCracken, 1988) was selected. Using purposive, non-probability sampling, 14 clinically experienced participants (8 females, 6 males; x̅=20 years’ experience) were recruited from Canada and the United States. Recruitment included posting advertisements in psychology and social work organizations and snowball sampling.  The interview guide consisted of open-ended questions to elicit detailed narratives about practitioner’s knowledge base for working with strained parent-child relationships. Interviews were audiotaped and transcribed verbatim. Data were exported to N*Vivo for phenomenological analysis. Credibility, dependability, confirmability and transferability were used to ensure trustworthiness and rigor of the qualitative data. 

Findings:

Analysis revealed substantial variance among practitioners’ training, and underlying theoretical frameworks informing service delivery.  Lack of differential screening for type of contact problem for theoretical orientation emerged as themes. Participants reported drawing on family systems, attachment, cognitive behavioral and child developmental theory but most were unable to articulate how these translated to practice. Missing from their orientations was trauma theory despite the high conflict nature of these families, and evidence from the Adverse Childhood Events Study indicating divorce as an adverse event. Coupled with high conflict dynamics, exposure to domestic violence or other child maltreatment, these children are at risk for trauma. Child resistance/refusal for parental contact could indicate a trauma reaction.

Conclusion and Implications:

 Findings demonstrate a need for best practice guidelines based on rigorous evaluation and integrated theories. Given the high levels of long-standing conflict associated in these families, a trauma informed practice approach is indicated as described by Harris and Fallot (2001).  A focus on safety, trust, collaboration, choice, empowerment and strengths are the pillars of trauma informed practice, and ultimately the prevention of re-traumatization.