Many children and young people attend mental health services where the conflict and dynamics between their separated parents contribute to their mental health difficulties. Without intervention in the conflicted co-parenting relationship, the child’s mental health may not improve. This article discusses the issues from the position of both children and their parents and describes some psychoanalytic thinking that can be applied in this work. This includes the development of triangular space and a third position in which the relationship itself is seen as a separate third and the understanding of grievance as a state of mind and a psychic retreat. The therapist’s countertransference offers insight into the experience of the child.