The natural journey of parenting starts with the close proximity of a baby to their parent, followed by a gradual move towards physical independence in adolescence, where teenagers no longer need their parents to walk them to school or to help them tie their shoelaces. The emotional journey is similar in that it moves from dependence to growing independence, but there is no end point to it.  We all need our parents in one guise or another for our whole lives. When this physical and emotional journey is interrupted by parental separation, it is important to remember that being physically far from one another doesn’t inevitably mean being emotionally detached. Using social media to stay in touch with children is one way of harnessing the more positive aspects of the complex digital world. The love that a child brings into the world is rarely extinguished through lack of contact, but as a parent, you may well need to be the one who reignites this flame.

Dr Anghard Rudkin Child Clinical Psychologist at the University of Southampton.

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You may find our publication '101 Questions Answered About Separating With Children' a useful resource, written by professionals, many of them experts in their fields. It answers, in plain English the questions we are asked by parents most often. You can find out more here......

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