Childhood Parent Loss: Developmental Impact and Adult Psychopathology

A large number of cases in analytically oriented psychotherapy and psychoanalysis were studied to determine the developmental consequences of parent loss by death or continuous separation in childhood. The cumulative evidence from this data is that the meaning, impact, and consequences of parent loss on emotional development are determined both by the phase-sensitive issues impacted, as well as the unique interpretation by the child of the fantasied cause and effect of the loss event. Specific issues arising in treatment as a derivative of earlier parent loss are presented as they relate to developmental diagnosis, therapeutic alliance, transference, countertransference, mourning, and termination.