'Acting as a good parent would'? Psychosocial support for parents in a children's hospital

In a children's hospital, the primary responsibility of attending to the physical wellbeing of the child also requires skilled attention to the needs of parents or other family members. This paper draws on the experience of a hospital-based support service to explore the diversity of these needs. Particular use is made of attachment theory and psychodynamic thinking to analyse what is involved, and the paper highlights social work's psychosocial model as the framework which integrates the practical, cognitive and the emotional, the individual and social dimensions.