PURPOSE OF THE MODULE

• To orientate parents towards their children's experience of family separation.

• To help parents to understand the ways in which children are affected by family separation.

• To help parents to understand the extent to which children are affected differently.

• To help parents to listen effectively to children, help them to adjust to the changes and to manage post separation relationships with each parent.

THEORY BEHIND THE MODULE

Increasing awareness of the needs of children

Many separated parents are so consumed by their own experiences, that their children's experiences are overlooked. Others will have strong guilt feelings which prevent them from dealing with their children's feelings. This module enables parents to understand how children are affected and how they can be helped with some simple listening skills and adjustments to interactions with their parents.

Offering understanding of the ways in which children are affected

Children may not readily reveal that they are affected by family separation, and yet the signs and symptoms are often there, it is simply that they are missed by parents who are experiencing high levels of distress. This module offers information about how children of different ages might express anxiety and show that they are affected by the changes that are happening around them.

Offering information about how children are affected differently

Children are affected differently by family separation and this is influenced by age and gender. This module offers parents the information that they need to spot the signs in boys and girls of different ages, and offers help and resources for the management of this.

Building effective skills for helping children to adapt to change

For a co-operative relationship to work, each parent must be able to offer children the kind of support that will help them to adjust to change. Parents must be able to offer consistent support and work together so that children do not feel that they are the subject of competition between parents. This module offers practical input so that parents can learn the skills of helping children to adapt to a new way of experiencing the family relationships that they have been used to.

Module Four: You, your children and their other parent >>