Resilience in Children with a Divorce History in Their Origin Families

Journal of Experiential Psychotherapy, vol. 23, n

3 (91) September 2020

– A Case Study on a Preadolescent –

Ruxandra A. Ivaşcu

, Elena O. Vladislav

Faculty of Psychology and Educational Sciences, Psychology Department,

University of Bucharest, Romania

Abstract

Introduction: Parental divorce is seen as one of the causes for children’s, as well as

adolescents’ emotional and behavioral difficulties/ distress. Empirical studies show that resilience is

a key factor for how children adapt to a traumatic event, such as their parents’ divorce.

Objectives: This study has as therapeutic objectives to unlock repressed emotions, as well as

teach and guide learning of healthy ways of emotional expression, to increase self-confidence and

improve the capacity to adapt in difficult contexts, to consolidate the child - parent relationship and

develop self-consciousness in a boy whose parents went through a divorce process.

The case study is focused on a 10-year-old preadolescent whose parents have divorced and

later reunited as a couple, who was presenting social anxiety and difficulties in managing his negative

emotions at the time of his coming to psychotherapy.

Methods: The psychotherapeutic process was developed in 12 sessions of experiential

psychotherapy, by using expressive-creative methods, drawing, play dough and roleplay.

Results: The experiential psychotherapeutic intervention reduced the preadolescent’s social

anxiety and improved his capacity to adapt in difficult/ unfamiliar contexts.

Conclusions: By preparing this case study, it has been observed that divorce has a great impact

on the development of preadolescents, leading to a high level of anxiety, low self-esteem and behavioral

disorders, while building resilience protects the children of the negative effects of the distress caused by

parental divorce.

Keywords: experiential psychotherapy, resilience, protection factors, risk factors, distress, divorce

* *

Corresponding author: Ruxandra A. Ivaşcu, MD, Faculty of Psychology and Educational Sciences, Psychology Department,

University of Bucharest, Panduri 90, Sector 5, 050663, Bucharest, Romania, email: ivascuruxi@yahoo.com.

Journal of Experiential Psychotherapy, vol. 23, n

3 (91) September 2020

I. Introduction

Marriage is one of the most durable

relationships between partners, it attributes people rights,

as well as duties and it satisfies the couple’s needs for

security, peace and happiness; however, this relationship

can become dysfunctional, leading to the separation of

the family and its members (Parisuz et al., 2019).

Divorce is a complex psychosocial

phenomenon, seen as a final form of dissolution of the

conjugal life, which changes the existence of the

partners as well as of their descendants (Cormoş, 2006).

Moreover, divorce has become more frequent; thus,

according to the data provided by The National Institute

of Statistics (2019), the number of divorces in Romania

in 2018 was of 30,857 cases, and the rate was situated at

1.39 divorces per thousand of inhabitants, while

annually 60,000 adults and 17,500 children are directly

affected by divorce.

Parisuz, Najarpourian and Mohammadi (2019)

sustain that divorce can appear under various forms, for

example the formal or legal divorce − where the

relationship is dissolved, thus the former partners do not

have any remaining obligation or right in relation to one

another, and the emotional divorce – which often remains

hidden or latent, where the material relationship becomes

conflictual and breaks the couple from the inside.

The couple partners are not the only to go

through divorce, children are the ones that feel the

strongest impact of their parents’ decision; in Romania,

in the last 2 years, 17,600 children have experienced

their parents’ divorce, and, in the past 6 years, 100,000

minors have seen how their families are coming apart

(The National Institute of Statistics, 2019).

Studies have shown that there are

consequences following a divorce, which can be

profound for offspring coming from divorced

families; for example, children that have gone

through the experience of parental divorce are 50%

more prone to developing health problems than those

coming from intact/ unified families (Angel, 1988,

Tucker et al., 1997, Strohschei, 2005, apud Uphold-

Carrier & Utz, 2012).

Hutchinson, Afifi and Krause (2007) identify

the factors that can increase children’s risk of

developing certain disorders following the divorce of

their parents: parental conflict; the feeling of being stuck

between conflictual parents; lack of communication

with the parents (related to disclosure of the divorce and

separation decision); reduction of the contact with the

parent that leaves the household following the divorce;

and lack of parental support.

Children and adolescents who experience

divorce in their family can develop more acting in and

out behaviors, more parent - child conflicts, have lower

social competences, decreased level of wellbeing, as

well as face difficulties in academic performances,

compared to those that come from families with no

divorce history (Chase-Lansdale, Cherlin, & Kiernan,

1995, Amato, 2000, Kelly, 2000, Wallerstein, Lewis, &

Blakeslee, 2000, apud Hutchinson et al., 2007).

The child’s age at the moment of their parents’

separation is significantly important in their

understanding of the challenges that can appear after

the divorce. For example, newborns (0-2 years old) are

the most affected, being able to very easily feel the

signs of distress, they cry more, are more aggressive

with others, have sleeping and feeding problems and

can be less affectionate (Stănciulescu, 1997, apud

Cormoş, 2006).

Regarding preschoolers, studies show that they

present difficulties in adapting to the new situation, their

thinking being influenced by perceptions and not by

objective reality, they believe that they can control the

world and feel responsible if something has a negative

progress or result (Kaduson et al., 2019).

Growing of age, children begin to understand

certain reasons that led to their parents’ separation, but,

for instance, adolescents find it hard to accept the

divorce and, sometimes, can take the place of the parent

that is not present, and there are negative consequences

that can appear for this age group, such as: aggressive

behavior, delinquency, substance abuse and suicide

attempts (Cohen & Weitzman, 2016).

Cormoş (2006) affirms that, along with their

parents’ divorce, children most certainly become

victims. Because emotional divorce starts long before

the juridical divorce, the child can be exposed to

conflicts, episodic abandonment and physical

aggression between parents.

Kelly and Emery (2003) consider that children

who come from divorced families have difficulties in

their adult life, in their intimate relationship, as some

studies observe that they get married prematurely,

experience a lower level of satisfaction in their couple

and have an increased risk of divorce, in their turn.

The study of human resilience has its origins in

the 20

century, being oriented towards the impact of

trauma and stress affecting the functioning of

individuals and families, in the context of the Great

Depression and during World War II. Thus, clinicians

and scientists sought to understand how adversities

threaten to affect people’s capacity to adapt (Masten,

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3 (91) September 2020

2001, Masten & Cicchetti, 2016, Nichols, 2013, Walsh,

2016, apud Masten & Barnes, 2018).

Over time, resilience has been considered to be,

on one hand, a psychological process of adaptation to

stress, and, on the other hand, a product, seen as a state

or a feature. Thus, there are factors that contribute to the

adaptation process and its final product, for example: the

exposure degree, loss, the history of traumatic

experiences, the internal locus of control, the quality and

quantity of social support (Turliuc & Măirean, 2014).

For people, resilience reflects the adaptive

capacity specific to a period of time in a given context,

that can appear as response to the challenges that are

faced, in other words resilience is not a character

feature, although the individual personality differences

and the cognitive abilities contribute to the adaptive

capacity (Masten, 2015, Chiang, 2018, apud Masten &

Barnes, 2018).

Despite the numerous definitions of resilience,

scientific literature has reached the conclusion that

resilience can be defined as the ability of a person to heal

after a stressful situation (Smith et al., 2008, apud Robu

& Pruteanu, 2015), or the ability to maintain their

physical and mental health, regardless of important

adversities (Carver, 1998, Tusaie & Dyer; 2004, apud

Robu & Pruteanu, 2015).

A special requirement of resilience is

represented by the presence of protection factors and

risk factors, the first helping in obtaining positive results

and reducing the negative ones (Fergus & Zimmerman,

2005, apud Zolkoski & Bullock, 2012). Thus, resilience

is both a psychosocial process and the result of the

interaction between external and internal factors,

between protection and risk factors (Rutter, 1990, apud

Petrova-Dimitrova, 2017). The protection factors

modify the responses towards distressful events, the

negative potential being reduced, while risk factors are

the circumstances that increase the probability of

negative results, both factors being able to change in

reaction to the context they appear in (Zolkoski &

Bullock, 2012).

Children and adolescents face numerous

factors of risk on their journey towards maturity. These

factors can be: biological (congenital defects, premature

birth, intrauterine exposure to cocaine or other drugs,

caused by the mother’s negligence during the prenatal

period), or environment related, such as poverty,

familial conflicts and parents’ low level of education

(op. cit., 2012).

Personality characteristics, perseverance,

determination, creativity, auto-efficiency, self-

consciousness, family support and healthy interpersonal

relationships are some of the attributes related to

resilience (Affi & Macmillan, 2011, apud Dias &

Cadime, 2020).

One of the most important protection factors is

intelligence. Studies show that children with a higher

intelligence level have better problem solving and

information processing abilities, which allow them to

support faced challenges and stress (Vanderbilt-

Adriance & Shaw, 2008).

Parental divorce can be conceptualized as a

stressful event for all children, but the way they react to

it may be different from a child to another.

Protection factors are associated with the

presence of emotional and social security, thus children

that are described as being resilient are characterized by

a better appearance, have a more secure attachment, they

were not neglected and were not affected by their

parents’ deficiencies (Petrova-Dimitrova, 2017). Hence,

Vanderbilt-Adriance and Shaw (2008) advocate that an

important component for the adaptation to risk situations

is emotional regulation, thus children that have the

capacity of better understanding and management of

their emotions can handle stressors better.

Resilience is formed on the base of positive

relationships between adults and children. Withal, for

children, any reference adult whom they identify with

and that can become a mentor is important (adults that

take care of them, as do grandparents, uncles, teachers).

Moreover, friends and colleagues represent important

resources for children when they face difficult situations

(Johnson, 2005).

Divorce may be considered a central trauma,

related to the loss of a significant relationship and can

be perceived as a major break of emotional bonding,

leading to occurrence of drastic changes such as

depression, suicidal thoughts and hetero and auto-

aggressive behaviors (Francis Macnab, 2000, apud

Vasile, 2018).

Early exposure to trauma, especially in the

case of an adverse event, can be countered with the help

of resilience factors that can be found in the child’s

surroundings, and those can act at individual or family

level, or may be factors characteristic to the

environment in which the child was raised (Turliuc &

Măirean, 2014).

Regarding the individual characteristics of the

children, temperament and features of their personality

can be protection factors, for example, children that have

a moderate self-esteem, average or above average

intelligence, and sense of humor have a greater

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3 (91) September 2020

probability in asking for the support of others and a

better capacity to adapt to stress, while children that

have a difficult temperament and behavioral issues are

more affected by their parents’ divorce (Hetherington &

Elmore, 2003).

Parent-child relationship has an important role

in how the child adapts after the divorce. Recent studies

claim that a positive parental environment represents a

protection factor for the child, meets a child’s needs,

assures good communication and a firm parental control

(Ionescu, Nicolae & Cyrulnik, 2013).

Among the protection factors that can occur

for the children whose parents have divorced, there

stand: a decrease of the parental conflict after the

divorce, studies showing that young adults who are

exposed to fewer parental conflicts during childhood

manifest a lower level of psychological symptoms than

those who come from a conflictual family (Amato &

Keith, 1991, Zill et al., 1993, apud Kelly & Emery,

2003); the involvement of the parent that does not have

the custody of the child/ does not live in the same

household as the child; living with the most

psychologically competent parent, and coherence in

parenting styles, especially when the child is entrusted,

in turns, to both parents (Kushner, 2009, apud Ionescu,

Nicolae & Cyrulnik, 2013).

Among the most important familial resources

in manifesting resilience there are parental warmth

(positive affection) and relationships in which parents

are valuing their children and offer them support

(Sandler et al., 2003).

Furthermore, the attention and warmth given

by teachers in school helps children better handle the

stress generated by difficult familial situations, while

friendships and school colleagues help adolescents

develop the abilities needed to become productive and

helpful adults (Chen & George, 2005).

However, scientific opinions are divided. Some

of them support that, after the divorce 75% of children

and adolescents do not suffer from major psychological

issues, they are able to have good school performance

and to maintain a strong bond with both parents,

moreover, they are further able to have stable

relationships with their life partners (Kelly & Emery,

2003). Other studies affirm that, following parental

divorce, children are subjected to stress factors which

can lead to the development of certain mental health

problems, may be linked with poverty, delinquency,

substance abuse and lack of a workplace (Hetherington

et al., 1998; McLanahan, 1999, Amato, 2001, apud

Hetherington & Elmore, 2003).

Regarding the implications of this study for

applied psychology, its results show that the expressive-

creative techniques, of experiential psychotherapy, have

an important role in decreasing the negative effects of a

divorce such as, in this case: separation anxiety,

performance anxiety and low self-esteem.

Another implication of the study concerns the

importance of starting a psychological counselling

program for both children and adolescents, as well as

their parents. Thus, counselling should be addressed

to children that come from divorced families, in order

to help them adapt to the new stage their families are

in, to better face potential parental conflicts and to

have a better management of the relationships with

their parents.

Through the psychological counselling

program and its psychoeducational component, parents

can receive essential information regarding the effects

of divorce on their children, the way in which they can

communicate their decision to the children and how to

manage possible reactions of their child and adolescent

offsprings.

Regarding the applicability of this study, its

results can have an important practical function,

specifically in child psychotherapy, considering that it

can improve the way a divorce is approached in relation

to children and it can encourage the use of therapeutic

play and dramatherapy techniques in connection with

individual resilience.

II. Method: case study

Participants

This case study presents the psychotherapeutic

intervention of A., a 10-year old boy (preteenager),

student in the 5

grade, experiencing difficulties at

school due to his emotional reactivity/ sensitivity. A.’s

parents had been divorced for 4 years, but they got back

together 2 years before and, at the time, they were living

together as a family. When A. was 6 years old, his

parents divorced because of the frequent conflicts they

had, but also after the mother found out that the father

had become secretly addicted to gambling. Initially, the

parents kept the divorce hidden from A., but the boy

figured out that something was going and his parents

told him the truth.

After the divorce was completed, A. lived both

at his mother’s house and at his father’s residence, as

parents had shared custody. There were times when A.

was feeling sad and he was secretly crying, and he was

also feeling nauseated whenever he would have to be at

either of the parents’ house without the other parent

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being there also. He used to cry a lot when he was at his

father’s house and wanted to go to his mother, often

requesting to call her. He had trouble sleeping and he

could not sleep alone, but would fall asleep (and still did

so) with a stuffed animal that he had had ever since he

was a baby. He was not able to sleep at kindergarten

either, during that time.

His parents had different parental styles which

means that the way they bring up, apply norms and

exercise authority in relation to the child can range from

a maximum level of exercised control to a total

tolerance. In this respect, the mother’s style was

overprotective, because she treated A. as if he were a

baby and she was afraid something bad could happen to

him. Yet the father had an authoritarian style, as he made

rules and enforced punishments/ restrictions with little

regard for A.’s opinions. The conflicts usually happened

because A. did not perform at school as they expected

and he showed a rather uninvolved attitude. His father

had two jobs, having a full schedule, while the mother

was a stay-at-home mom, raising A.

Both parents described A. as a sociable boy

who had many friends, however he was stubborn when

he had to obey certain rules. The mother described him

as a generous and kind child, but he was also very

scatterbrained and shallow in what he did. She also

mentioned that he was fearful and that he took after her

in that aspect. The father described him as a child “who

is way too kind with others, he should be tougher and

more boyish, more able to defend himself, because

people are vicious”. He said that as whenever A. got

involved in conflicts with older kids, he chose to answer

kindly and not get in a fight. The father also mentioned

the fact that A. liked to be the center of attention.

A. experienced an anxiety episode whenever he

would be verified at school in front of the classroom, as

he described it, his heart beat really fast and he entered

into freeze mode. He was scared to raise his hand and

answer even though he had the knowledge, because he

was afraid to make mistakes or make a fool of himself

in front of his colleagues. He had friends at school with

whom he got along very well, and whenever there was a

conflict, A. defended them, even in front of the teachers.

The boy said that his parents complained about him not

following the rules and talking during classes. This was

the reason why A. found it difficult to do his homework

and also why his father would often reprimand him.

Therapeutic objectives: building a

therapeutic relationship between the psychotherapist

and A.; unblocking repressed emotions and learning

healthy ways of expressing emotions in day to day life;

increasing self-confidence and improving the ability

to adapt to difficult situations, which cannot be

changed − thus maintaining a positive emotional state;

development of the child’s self-consciousness with the

purpose of becoming more aware of his feelings, in

order to understand the way he reacted; consolidating

the relationship between A. and his father;

establishing clear boundaries in A.’s relationship with

his mother.

Diagnostic hypotheses

The first hypothesis refers to A.’s fear of

abandonment experienced in relationship with his

parents; it is presumed this has developed following his

parents’ divorce, when he was still very young,

information on the process and their decision being

hidden from him, thus creating and maintaining an

uncertainty state which fueled the fear of abandonment.

A. is an over-responsible/ parentified child,

being the one who wished that everyone around him felt

well, especially his parents, thus manifesting an

obedient behavior in relation to them, the fear of not

losing them again leading to A. taking the role of the

savior in relation to both his parents, especially as he felt

responsible for their reconciliation.

It is assumed that, in the relationship with his

mother, he played the role of the substitute partner

whenever his father was not home and felt the need to

protect her emotionally, especially as his mother seemed

to show hyper-protection and anxious traits as well, the

relationship boundaries being diffuse, not adjusted to

A.’s current developmental needs.

The hyper-protective attitude of his mother and

her predisposition to anxiety could be determined by

transgenerational reasons, linked to the relationship with

her mother; given the diffuse boundaries between A. and

his mother, a transgenerational repetition of insecure

attachment patterns in the mother-daughter/ mother-son

relations could be inferred.

The lack of healthy boundaries in a family

leads to the impossibility of applying and following

rules, hence the parents were feeling guilty whenever

they imposed rules and punishments for A. That could

be the cause for A.’s behavior of postponing doing his

homework and not finishing it in time.

It is assumed that the boy’s fear of being more

active in class and of making mistakes when giving

answers in front of the teacher and his colleagues was

determined by his lack of self-confidence, which was

linked to not being encouraged to make mistakes,

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subsequently to his father being critical of A. and his

mother acting overprotectively.

Psychometric instruments

For the evaluation phase two types of

interviews were used: Interview with the preadolescent

(Braaten, 2007), functioning as a base for building the

preadolescent’s history, and Internal Working Model

(Zeanah, Benoit, & Barton, 1969), for a complete

interview with the mother.

Standardized tests were also administered, as

followed:

M-PACI inventory

−

Millon Pre-adolescent

Clinical Inventory

This evaluation instrument is used to

accurately identify psychological issues of children with

ages between 9-12 years old, offering an integrated view

that synthetizes emerging personality styles and clinical

syndromes for the early detection of disorders specific

to Axis I and II of the DSM. The test has 97 items with

dichotomous responses True − False (Millon, 1993).

MASC

−

Multidimensional Anxiety Scale for

Children

MASC test (March et al., 1997) is evaluating

the multiple dimensions of anxiety in children and

adolescents with ages between 8 to 19 years old. MASC

has 39 items distributed in four base scales (Physical

Symptoms, Harm Avoidance, Social Anxiety and

Separation Anxiety); two subscales for each of the first

three base scales: Tense/ Restless and Somatic/

Autonomic, Humiliation Fears and Performance Fears,

Perfectionism and Anxious Coping; one scale that

measures total anxiety and two major items (Anxious

Disorder item and Unconsciousness item).

Projective tools

The family drawing test

It was published by Louis Corman under the

name of “The family drawing test in medical and

pedagogical practices” (1967). The way in which the

drawing is made has as great importance as the final

result, for this reason it should be observed and

recorded how inhibited the child is, the order in

which they draw family members, as well as the

verbal comments that they make while drawing.

During the exercises the child’s affective reactions

are registered and the interpretation of the drawing is

performed on three analytical levels: graphic, formal

and content.

Figure 1. The family drawing test – before

Figure 2. The family drawing test – after

The Düss fairy tales test

−

“Method of Fables”

It was elaborated by Louisa Düss (1971), with

the purpose of providing a faster and more simplified

technique of examining mental distortions from the

perspective of Freudian psychoanalysis for children and

adults. The test includes ten stories with open ending,

the child being required to complete them as they wish.

Children’s Apperception Test

−

C.A.T

The test (Bellak & Abrams, 1997) applies to

children with ages between 3 to 10 years old. The test is

composed of 10 cards containing animal drawings. The

image cards are shown to the child and he is required to

imagine stories with the characters that he sees on the

cards. All stories need to have an introduction, content

and conclusion. If the child is telling the story with

difficulty, the evaluator can ask questions that

encourage the child in making associations, being,

however, careful not to influence the respondent’

answers.

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Procedure

Before starting the psychotherapeutic process,

A.’s mother gave her consent regarding the development

of the intervention. The next step was the evaluation of

the preadolescent, in order to establish the objectives

and hypotheses that would lay the foundation of the

sessions. There were 12 psychotherapy sessions in a

period of three months, each meeting lasting 50 minutes.

The psychotherapeutic approach was

humanistic, using an experiential method, the means

being expressive-creative. Some of the techniques used

were: the six steps drawing, roleplay, guided imagery,

play dough modelling. After the individual

intervention with the preadolescent was implemented,

one psychotherapy session with the entire family was

carried out, in order to observe the interactional

patterns between family members. Upon finalizing the

therapy intervention, the re-evaluation of the case was

conducted.

Experimental Design

The design is an individual study case, non-

experimental, with creative research.

The experiential intervention

Psychodiagnostics methods were administered

to evaluate A. during the first encounters and the shaping

and development of the therapeutic relationship and

alliance were emphasized, in order for the

psychotherapeutic process to be sustained.

The themes tackled during the initial sessions

were revolving around self-knowledge and tapping into

the self of the preteenager, in order to encourage him to

know himself better and to align him with his present

needs. Therefore, the Rogerian dialogue, drawing the

problem and roleplaying were used as techniques.

Figure 3. The metaphoric drawing of the problem

For example, during the third session, and

while using the technique of “The metaphoric drawing

of the problem”, A. was asked to illustrate one of the

problems he was currently facing, its solution, the

obstacles faced and the help he received in reaching the

solution. The preteenager chose the fear to go in front of

the class and be asked questions by the teacher. This

technique helped him become aware of his problem, but

also of the fact that it had a solution and how he could

better deal with it.

In order to discover what strategies A. had

when he was dealing with hardship, roleplaying was

used and the preteen imagined that he was a strategist in

a battle facing the enemy Stress. As a result of the

exercise, the boy became aware of his strategies

whenever he had to adapt to less pleasant situations and

how these means could become healthier for him.

The following sessions facilitated unlocking

repressed emotions, emotional regulation, identifying

one’s emotions and managing them during social

interactions.

For example, during the fourth session of the

psychotherapeutic process, modelling clay was used as

a technique to encourage the expression of the preteen’s

repressed emotions and help him own them, instead of

identifying himself with his fear. Therefore, A.

modelled a knot which represented his fear of being in

front of the classroom and answering during classes (“I

feel this knot in my stomach and I also feel that, when I

have to go in front of the class, my brain tells me ‘Don’t

go!’”). A. was asked to play the role of the knot and to

talk from its point of view (“I am the knot and I am

telling A. not to go in front of the class, and I am telling

him to stay hidden in his seat and say that he feels sick

instead”). Through this exercise, A. accepted the

existence of fear in his life and the importance it held.

In the two following sessions, the goals were to

help the preteen develop his sense of self-awareness, in

order for him to become more in touch with his feelings

and to understand why he acted in a certain way, as well

as to define and strengthen the self. In order to

accomplish these objectives, the Johari Window Model

was used, that helped A. clarify certain beliefs about

himself, as well as becoming aware of the way in which

he thought he was perceived by the others around him.

In the last 4 sessions the focus was on

integrating polarities, and also on A.’s relationship

with his father, as it was described as tensed and

conflictual at times. During the eighth session, A. was

asked to draw a part of himself that he did not like and

he depicted “Bad A.”. He mentioned the polarity

“shows up when my dad won’t let me play on my

computer and I talk back to him, but I know my

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behavior is not nice”. Asked to talk to “Bad A.”, A.

said, about accepting him: “I cannot do this, because I

don’t like him... It’s hard to tell him this.” After a few

minutes: “Bad A., I like you, I will keep you, but I will

use you only when it’s necessary”.

The need for autonomy and independence,

which also brought a deep feeling of guilt to the preteen,

was contained in “Bad A.”. Whenever A. did not meet

his father’s expectations, he developed a negative belief

about himself that was difficult to change by an external

agent. As a result of that activity, A. managed to accept

the part of himself that he thought of as unpleasant and

could assign a new meaning to it.

The theme of the parents’ divorce was

approached by using the Rogerian dialogue technique,

this way encouraging the disclosure of the preteenager’s

concerned thoughts and feelings. For this to happen, a

stuffed animal was used, the one A. had been attached

to ever since childhood and which helped him soothe

during stressful moments, as when his parents divorced.

The goal was to process and accept the event that took

place in the family and to clarify the present situation, in

order to understand that it was not him who was

responsible for his parents’ decision.

Towards the end of the psychotherapeutic

process, the parents were invited to participate along

with A. in a family session. The techniques used were

mostly based on drawing. For instance, they made

together a drawing representing the family, in order to

observe the way in which they communicated and

cooperated with each other.

Then, they each made a separate drawing with

something they liked, and the other members could

complete the drawing by adding a new element to it, or

could leave it as it was. As a result of the discussions,

each member of the family revealed their needs as well

as their discontentment, in order to be able to find

solutions and to establish certain rules together.

III. Results

After the therapeutic intervention, important

changes compared to the initial scores of MASC test

have been observed, on the Harm Avoidance

(Perfectionism) scale: although the initial clinical score

was 71, after the re-evaluation the score has lowered to

54, which means that the preadolescent’s perfectionism

tendency was more discrete and he was more inclined to

accept making mistakes.

On the Social Anxiety scale (Humiliation −

Rejection) the final score, 64, proved to be lower than

the initial one, of 84. It could signify that A.’s

anticipation of humiliation or rejection moments also

decreased.

Furthermore, on the performance fears sub-

scale of the Anxiety scale, the scores have lowered from

73 to 59 after the psychotherapeutic intervention. As a

result, the fear of being exposed to a public or an

interpersonal context has decreased.

The score of the Separation Anxiety scale

registered a 7 points decrease, from an initial 77, to a

final 70, showing that A.’s fear of separation from his

parents has lowered.

Before the intervention the total score on the

multi-dimensional Anxiety scale was 70, and at the re-

evaluation was 51, which indicates that the

preadolescent’s anxiety level became medium.

Regarding the personality patterns from M-

PACI test, there has been registered a growth on the

Confident scale, from 50 to 78, and on Outgoing scale,

from 75 to 78. The scores for Conforming scale have

decreased (from 75 to 68), as have the ones for the

Submissive scale (from 70 to 58).

On the scales that indicated current clinical

signs, Anxiety/ Fears has lowered significantly from a

clinical score of 75, to a subclinical score of 40,

Attention Deficits has decreased in scores, from 75 to

65, and so did Disruptive Behaviors, from 71 to 40.

The family drawing test: through the family

portrait, by considering the elements of graphic

analysis, the introvert personality of the child was

revealed. Then, the presence of self-identification was

highlighted by the subject drawing himself first, on the

right side of the paper, as well as, through the answers

given to the questions addressed, feeling the happiest

and wanting to be like his drawn self. The depreciation

of his father was present by drawing him last and

smaller than the other characters. The mother was

valued, being a protective image with whom A. had a

strong emotional bond.

The interpretation of Düss Fables highlighted

the preadolescent’s dependence on his parents, fear of

losing a loved one and fear of abandonment.

A. experienced separation anxiety, causing him

to develop an insecure, preoccupied attachment strategy

when it came to his family, friends and well as

acquaintances. He needed attention, safety and affection

and sensitive/ reactive to what others thought of him.

Concerning the family relations, although he was

overly-reliant on his parents, he expressed needs of

growth and recognition.

The interpretation of CAT showed that the

mother was presented like a loving maternal figure, who

Journal of Experiential Psychotherapy, vol. 23, n

3 (91) September 2020

accepted the child’s mistakes and who sustained his

decisions. In the developed stories, the child used his

personal resources (courage, faith) to solve difficult

situations and to adapt to unusual events. Some of the

responses indicated that the fear of abandonment and

loneliness were still present.

From the final evaluation, it has been observed

that there were certain changes. As said, compared to the

initial evaluation, the anxiety score, for both

Humiliation − Rejection and Performance Fear

subscales, has lowered significantly. Furthermore, on

the Generalized Anxiety scale there were no more

clinical scores, these being reduced as a result of

therapeutic process. The total anxiety score, although

initially a clinical level score, became a medium one.

That means that A., following the psychotherapeutic

process, learned how to regulate the emotions that were

a problem for him and how to express them in an

adequate way.

Regarding the emerging personality patterns

from M-PACI, the scores on Confident scale had a

considerable growth, compared to the first evaluation,

meaning that the psychotherapeutic process had a

positive result on self-confidence, too. Moreover, there

has also been a decrease in the final score compared to

the initial one, on the Disruptive Behaviors scale.

After the psychotherapeutic process, there was

noted a significant improvement of the relationships in

the preadolescent’s family. His dad started to spend

more time with A., helping him with his homework and

playing together, while, in relationship with his mother

steps were taken towards transforming the diffuse

boundaries into clear ones. They established a set of

rules which needed to be followed by all members of the

family in order for everything to function well. A. was

allowed to spend time with his friends after school, only

if he let his parents know first where he was going and

what time he would be back home, his mother agreeing

to discard the mobile app which showed the

preadolescent’s whereabouts.

More changes were implemented in how A.

managed his fear of failure, thus, following the

psychotherapeutic process, the preadolescent realized

what the purpose of making mistakes was and its

positive impact on his life, working to accept that

nobody was perfect. That aspect was encouraged by his

parents, who then chose to validate his emotions

whenever A. felt guilty after making a mistake and they

supported him more, for example instead of reproaching

a bad grade they tried to find solutions, together, to fix

the problem.

One of the difficulties specified by the

preadolescent was his fear of being called to the

blackboard to answer the teacher’s questions, as he was

scared of making a mistake, of not being good enough;

at the time, A. started to offer himself voluntarily to

answer questions, in new lessons, having a better

understanding of how to solve the exercises, which

indicated he was able to expose himself in front of

colleagues and teachers and allow himself to make

mistakes as a way of learning.

IV. Discussion

The main controversy in the specialty literature

is related to the effects divorce can have over children,

some researchers claiming that some children are

successfully adapting to the divorce of their parents,

while others highlight that children may have serious

emotional disorders (see Hetherington & Elmore, 2003),

therefore this research aimed to study the perceived

effects of divorce on a given preteenager.

This case study had as objective the

development of protection factors which help the

preadolescent to adapt in a resilient way to distressful

events in his life. Results showed that the experiential

psychotherapy sessions have led to the improvement of

self-esteem, lowered the social anxiety, general anxiety,

and enhanced coping strategies. In other words, the

psychotherapeutic intervention improved the familial

and individual resilience factors. Although at the

transgenerational level on the maternal line there was a

predisposition to anxiety, the psychotherapeutic process

has helped to reduce the child anxiety.

The results of this study case show that children

are affected by the separation of their parents, which

confirmed what Hutchinson et al. (2007) sustained in

their studies. But more than that, the present study

highlights experiential psychotherapy as a proper

method to diminish and mitigate the existing effects,

consequences of the divorce.

Following therapy sessions, it has been

observed that the preadolescent’s performance anxiety

has lowered. He succeeded in following the rules

established together with his parents and to communicate

in a more assertive way with them. Regarding A.’s fear

of abandonment and separation, developed as a result of

his parents’ divorce, he registered lower scores after the

therapy, implying that he felt it at a manageable level.

One of his objectives was spending more time with his

father, which has been fulfilled by establishing a play

time schedule, with activities that allowed them to spend

quality time together.

Journal of Experiential Psychotherapy, vol. 23, n

3 (91) September 2020

One of the unsolved issues of specialty

literature was referring to how children perceive

divorce: for those who come from abusive families

divorce can be seen as a liberation, while for securely

attached children parental divorce can bring guilt and

fear of separation and loss, and the effects can be more

drastic in the case of adolescents, being linked to several

phenomena, including juvenile delinquency.

For future research of this study case, the

relationship between A. and his parents should be

addressed, because of the very different parenting

styles of his mother and father, which can affect the

development of the soon to be adolescent. Concerning

A., a personal development process would be

beneficial for him, taking into consideration that in the

process of becoming an adolescent he will face

numerous challenging situations. Furthermore, the

focus should be brought upon encouraging assertive

communication, couples therapy for the parents or

family therapy.

Future research should focus on protection

factors found in the environment children and

adolescents grow up in. For example, further study

could address the way in which extrafamilial support

factors − friends, classmates, close relatives or

successful educational experiences − can alleviate the

effects of divorce.

V. Conclusion

Preadolescents have the capacity to integrate a

parental divorce. In this context, resilience is the ability

a child needs to adapt to traumatic events that they went

through. However, the theory and research on how

children and their families adjust to adversities,

individually or together, has an important role in the

development of the human resilience studies.

Through this study, it has been concluded that

divorce has an important impact on the development of

preadolescents, causing a high level of anxiety, low self-

esteem and behavioral disorders; it has been also

discovered that the resilience of a child protects them

from the negative effects of the distress caused by

parental divorce. Furthermore, resilience can be

improved if the child receives support from the adults in

their environment and if they are encouraged to discover

their inner resources, that can help them better cope with

risky situations present in their life.

In conclusion, the experiential psychotherapy

was the framework where the fears of the parents and

the child could be expressed and explored and the needs

were respected and nourished.

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