We’ve been given permission to add the following letter template to the DDP Resource Library.
It explains how important DDP principles are to court-related contact visit situations for the child, their caregiver and birth family.
You can find a copy to download using the link below.
Letter to court about contact visits incorporating DDP concepts
The therapist writes about this sample letter:
I hope this can help others who want to explain DDP principles (a combination of attachment and intersubjectivity theories) for children’s best interests in situations of court ordered natal or birth family contact. Of course the specific observations of behaviors will be your own and they must fit the principles you cite.
I sent this letter on short notice when requested by the child’s caregivers. They had been dealing with extreme emotional and physical dysregulation after every court-ordered visit. These had been happening twice a month for two years.
The child was young, primary school age, and was moved from the natal or birth parent’s home after early years of severe neglect. The parents were against terminating parental rights.
The caregiver’s motive for requesting a letter from me was a move by the natal parent’s solicitor to increase time with the natal parent. The court had the view that stability for the child would increase if the child had more time with the birth parent.
Two weeks after I sent this letter to the Child Protection case manager, it was reported to me by the caregivers that the natal or birth parents requested to sign the parental-rights termination paperwork as soon as possible because they felt this was one positive act they could do for their child.
