[Parental separation in infant and childhood clinical practice]

Parental separation is a painful and unmanageable moment of rupture for children regardless of their age. This experience can be traumatic, but it can sometimes be only a transitional stage that the child can surpass by adjusting to this new reality. In recent years, we have increasingly encountered disorders originating in this familial context. A better understanding of this social reality should facilitate the early detection of mental disorders requiring specialized support, which should in turn promote their prevention. This article presents clinical illustrations of children of separated parents and reviews recent data from the international literature.