Mothers’ resolution of their children’s diagnosis of cerebral palsy

Introduction. The process of adaptation and acceptance of a child’s diagnosis of cerebral palsy requires from parents to process the trauma caused by this knowledge cognitively and emotionally. Parents who manage to come to terms with their children’s condition are labeled as resolved. As opposed to them, unresolved parents do not accept the reality of their children’s condition and fail to overcome the crisis caused by knowledge of the child’s diagnosis. Unresolved status has negative implications for the child, the parents and their relationship. Case Reports. Two case reports of mothers whose children have been diagnosed to have cerebral palsy are given. The first case shows a resolved mother who managed to overcome the initial shock and started to feel a sense of relief from the period when she found out the child’s diagnosis. In contrast, another case shows an unresolved mother with no significant changes in thoughts and feelings from the time since she learned the child’s diagnosis. She was preoccupied with anger and attempted to minimize the child’s problem. Discussion. Interviews on reaction to diagnosis and reaction to diagnosis classification system allow identification of mothers’ resolution of their children’s diagnosis of cerebral palsy. The characteristics of resolved and unresolved maternal status are discussed. Conclusion. Parental resolution of diagnosis is essential for the successful adaptation to raising children with disabilities, as well as meeting the requirements of the parental role. It is important to recognize parental cognitions and feelings regarding the child’s condition in order to direct psychotherapeutic interventions towards vulnerable population of parents.