The unacknowledged grief of children in parental separation: a psychoanalytic perspective

Abstract

Grief is a natural experience in the face of loss; it is an emotional process involving the pain of physical death or other forms of absence. In this sense, the present study addresses the issue of disenfranchised grief in children confronted with parental separation, from a psychoanalytic perspective. This qualitative and bibliographic research sought to analyze how the loss of family structure and the reduced coexistence with one parent can impact the child’s psyche, producing emotional suffering, feelings of guilt, fear, and rejection. Based on the contributions of Freud, Winnicott, Edler, Dunker, D’Affonseca, Guimarães, Marinho, and Pimentel, among others, grief is discussed as a necessary and inevitable psychic elaboration process in the face of the loss of a love object. The findings indicate that when there is no space for symbolization and recognition of grief, the child may develop symptoms ranging from emotional and school difficulties to more severe conditions such as melancholy and psychological illness. Psychoanalytic listening emerges as an essential resource for recognizing the child’s suffering, enabling them to work through their losses and reorganize their affective relationships. It is concluded that divorce, as both a social and family event, requires attention not only to the adults involved but especially to children, whose grief experiences often remain silenced. Recognizing and giving space to this suffering is fundamental to preventing pathological outcomes and fostering healthy development.