5,310
edits
Changes
→When responses fail
*'''Keep your contact information current:''' Sometimes all that can be done is to wait until the child is old enough that they begin to look back on their own childhood with more objectivity, perhaps in their late teens or in their 20s, reexamine their experiences and relationships, and reach out on their own. However, it's important to make sure that the child can contact you, by email or telephone, or can find you on social media.
The common theme among these suggestions is about the importance of finding ways to keep the door open for the possibility of contact by the child in the future. It's usually important to take a consciously passive and restrained approach that doesn't expose the child to the parent's feelings of grief and loss, and makes it as easy as possible for the child to reach out.
==Resources on children who resist spending time with a parent==