The taboo of love for children in care: its emergence through the transference relationship and in the system around the child.

This paper explores the taboo of love in the case of children in care. Love can often become a taboo for these children, something they unconsciously forbid themselves from experiencing due to fears of further loss and pain. Love can also become a taboo for the adults working with looked after children, including psychotherapists. The author presents her work with individual looked after children and with the professional network around them. She proposes that love tends not to be a central theme in the care system, despite its relevance to children who have often not experienced adequate love in their early lives. The implication of this proposition is that such children, who may have never known love, or who may have had a distorted experience of love, may be at risk of remaining unloved within the care system, which could seriously compromise their development. The author calls for more support for professionals, so that they can be facilitated to perform their vital work in promoting a loving approach in the system around children in care. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]