Psychological intervention on children and adolescents with parents hospitalized in resuscitation in the hospital of Alessandria, Italy

Objectives: In light of the theoretical and clinical background of posttraumatic disorders, the article will propose an intervention with children and family members of inpatients in the intensive care unit. Methodology: Structure of the intervention: psychoeducation on the consequences of exposure to a critical event; analysis of the functioning/needs of the healthy adult and its ability to be, despite the difficult situation, a safe base; evaluation of the presence of a social network of support; co-construction, together with the adult, of the narrative of communication to the child/adolescent; evaluation of the moment in which it is appropriate for the healthy adult to make the communication; preparation of the child, integrating TCC and EMDR, for the meeting with the parent. Results: The intervention, carried out on 15 families, helped parents and children to deal with a critical situation. Conclusion: In some occasions, communication must be carried out in an emergency/urgency, since the clinical conditions of the hospitalized family member are extremely serious and with an inauspicious prognosis that can degenerate in a short time. This intervention, however, can give the caregiver the perception of having been a secure base for the child in this difficult and delicate situation in his/her life history.