The role of the therapist in cases of child neglect/maltreatment, with a special focus on foster placement

Abstract

Abstract In cases where the child has been removed from its own home and is placed in a foster home because of abuse and/or neglect, the children often have serious psychological disturbances. It is essential that an exact evaluation be undertaken. This includes psycho-diagnoses where the child's past is evaluated as well as its present functioning. In a new relationship one must expect that the child will regress emotionally, and make a new start from the very point where it stopped being cared for, or where traumas intruded upon its life. We can expect a new attachment process in relation to a new object At the same time we must be prepared for another type of process running parallel to and alternative with the above-mentioned: the transference process The children we speak of here will often have a special tendency to project unbearable self-aspects into the other person especially the person to whom the child is most attached -e.g. a foster parent. The transference/countertransference process thus put into motion may create vicious circles eventually leading to a breakdown. The child also faces loyalty conflicts concerning biological parents/ foster parents. It is essential for the child and the foster parents to get professional help from a child therapist in these difficult fields. A case is presented illustrating these points.