A Practical Understanding of How Attachment and Separation Issues Affect Young Children

The attachment of a child to a loving parent, and vice-versa, is probably the most important psychological dynamic of a person’s life. Then almost as important is the psychological separation that has to occur for the child to become independent. The attachment-separation dynamic is clearly played out in child care centers and family child care homes because very young children have to separate from their parents and attach to the program and its caregiver/teachers. We notice when a child has a strong separation reaction initially and often use a fairly strict protocol by sending the parent away as quickly as possible. But, this two directional dynamic is played out in all kinds of ways in the adjustment of children to child care. We are going to use our own issues and experiences with attachment and separation and those of our clients to discuss some of the complex variations on this theme.