A Psychoanalytic Contribution to the Treatment of Children at Risk in Their Families — An Israeli Perspective

Abstract

ABSTRACT The growing concern for the wellbeing of children has confronted us with children traumatized in their own families. The abused or neglected child needs help by caring adults to alleviate the harmful situation and change her reality. Yet, the child who is entangled by the abusive forces carries in her inner world the detrimental consequences of her experiences. Armored by survival measures and fortified defense mechanisms, the child might not be able to use the new opportunities offered her by benevolent adults who wish to change the course of her life. A new endeavor was initiated in Israel to meet this challenge. Experts in family law and child psychoanalysts joined hands to create a framework that offers a safe space for treatment of abused and neglected children in their families. A case of risk to a child caused by severe abuse by parents engaged in vehement discord, demonstrates how a psychoanalytically informed intervention within the protected space allowed therapeutic processes to develop both in the child and in his parents.