The specifics of family losses in pediatric oncology and the dynamics of grief during analytical psychotherapy in pediatric oncology patients who lost one or both parents

Relevance. The experience of loss by a child receiving antitumor treatment is a factor in the development of psychopathologies.

Purpose to study is to study the specifics of family losses in pediatric oncology; to trace the dynamics of grief during analytical psychotherapy in children who have lost one or both parents.

Materials and methods. The study of the specifics of family losses was carried out by the method of retrospective analysis of the dynamics of family relations in 1298 families. To study the dynamics of grief in the process of psychotherapy, 13 children aged 3 to 13 years who lost one or both parents were selected.

Results. Antitumor treatment of the child is accompanied by prolonged separation from one, less often both parents, and, in 13.3 %, the loss of a mother or father as a result of a divorce/death. Burning in all the examined children was complicated with the appearance of a number of somatic, emotional-behavioral, mental symptoms that worsen their physical condition and psycho-emotional status. As a result of psychotherapy, the child can react to suppressed negative emotions, which leads to the disappearance of symptoms of grief.

Conclusion. The interaction of pediatricians, clinical psychologists, social work specialists is productive in order to provide timely psychotherapeutic assistance to the child before the manifestation of symptoms of complicated grief manifestation.

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