Holding Multiple Perspectives: A Toddler's Journey with Traumatic Grief in the Child Welfare System

Grief does not spare infants and young children. Attachment disruption through the loss of a primary caregiver is devastating to a young child's foundational experience of safety without the developmental capacity to understand any aspect of their loved one's absence. In this case story, the authors explore the diagnosis of complicated grief in infants and young children through their assessment with a toddler who abruptly changed placements from his long-term foster caregiver without any transitional support to the care of his loving, yet unfamiliar, grandparents who were alarmed by his behaviors and worried greatly for him.