San Francisco Psychoanalytic Institute

Child Development Program

Parents going through separation and/or divorce face a maze of legal, economic, social, and emotional changes which may create lasting and often devastating effects on their lives and the lives of their children.

While parents struggle with the confusion, loss, rage, and sadness, children continue to need consistent adult support and guidance to help them cope and thrive. Children do best when parents and adults around them manage their own painful feelings and regain self-esteem and equilibrium sooner rather than later.

These can seem like Herculean tasks to parents who face not only the debilitating emotional "craziness" of divorce but the added burdens of economic hardship, a damaged sense of self and the additional threat of loss of time with their children and the fullness of their attachment to their children. A community of support for parents can make a critical difference in their lives, in the lives of their children and in generations to come.

Under the auspices of the Child Development Program at the San Francisco Psychoanalytic Institute we are forming a psycho-educational group led by an experienced facilitator, which will offer parents an opportunity to find the support they need to maintain emotional stability and to find the courage to face new challenges and provide optimal parenting and guidance to their children. Group members will share feelings, ideas, resources, and strategies and explore a variety of topics including: anger communication difficulties; custody; co-parenting; issues of work and finances; dealing with the divorce "system"; coping with loss, depression, and anxiety; and "the best interest of the children."