and support. Her children’s fear response to perceived threatening situations may be amplified, leading to the development of anxious attachment style and affect dysregulation.


Attachment bond is described as one individual forming an affectional tie with another whom the individual perceives to be wiser or stronger. Depending on the individual’s felt security with the other individual, an attachment bond is considered secure or insecure. The girls may have developed insecure attachment bonds with Maria, as they sought security with her, and were distressed due to her absence.


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Attachment disruptions arise when the child experiences fear due to severe or prolonged threat that the caregiver will not be available during moments of stress or danger. Attachment disruption may have occurred when the girls were unable to engage in reparative processes that would reinstate confidence in their attachment bond with Maria. In spite of visiting Maria every weekend, the girls may have fears of abandonment and separation, and experience emotional dysregulation. That being said, it seems that the children had a positive attachment bond and secure attachment with Adam, which may protect them to a certain extent from adverse childhood emotional experiences related to insecure attachment and attachment disruption. Internal working models are amenable to change, and when permanently reunited with their mother, the children may develop adaptive internal working models that foster optimal functioning. However, the loss of their mother and the anticipation that one day they will be reunited, can hinder the children’s successful advancement through developmental stages since they do not allow for the grief process to begin.


Forced separation results in changes in the family structure by creating single parent households, economic hardship,


VOL. 50 NO. 2 | SPRING 2018


and changes between the relationship of men with their wives and children. Many children are forced to take on the role of the caregiver for younger siblings, while the remaining parent in the home provides for the family’s basic needs. These children frequently live in poverty, suffer discrimination, watch and experience their parents’ own emotional distress, and have poor physical and mental health. Children of undocumented immigrants who experience separation from a parent, often experience emotional and behavioural difficulties: anxiety, depression, social withdrawal, somatisation, aggression, and challenging behaviours.


Implications for Counsellors and Psychotherapists


As the attachment system has an enduring effect on developmental systems, it is vital that the children develop secure attachment to facilitate adaptive functioning and psychological wellbeing. By creating a trusting therapeutic alliance within the confines of a safe environment, the therapist and client could work collaboratively towards repairing client’s attachment disruptions and foster secure attachment system and attachment bonds. Parent-child separation creates instability within the family environment, which causes acute stress for the children. The severity of the stress often disrupts their sense of security and ability to successfully cope with stressors that are present at each developmental stage. Vital services like individual and group therapy sessions, psycho-education, parenting classes, loss and grief counselling can make a significant difference in ways children and remaining parent/caregiver cope with their situation. Therapists need to be particularly sensitive to the impact of trauma on these children and should provide services using a trauma-informed perspective to help them overcome the psychological and emotional difficulties brought about by the removal of a parent from their lives.


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