Mother–infant psychotherapy: Examining the therapeutic process of change

✍ Scribed by Ruth Paris; Eda Spielman; Rendelle E. Bolton

• Book ID: 102279608
• Publisher: John Wiley and Sons
• Year: 2009
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 199 KB
• Volume: 30
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 0163-9641
• DOI: 10.1002/imhj.20216

✦ Synopsis

Abstract

Treatments that involve the mother–infant dyad have shown great potential for mitigating the deleterious effects of maternal mental health problems for the mother, infant, and the mother–infant relationship. The present study utilizes focus‐group data from clinicians providing mother–infant psychotherapy in the Early Connections program, a home‐based mother–infant psychotherapy for the treatment of postpartum mood disorders. Findings highlight aspects of the process in mother–infant psychotherapy that contribute to change and positive relational development in the mother–infant dyad as well as in the therapeutic alliance. Viewed through the lens of relational theories relevant to mother–infant treatment (J.V. Jordan, A.G. Kaplan, J.B. Miller, I.P. Stiver, & J.L. Surrey, 1991; D.N. Stern et al., 1998), the findings of this study support the importance of the relational connection and the “now moment” (D.N. Stern et al., 1998, p. 304) as catalytic factors in change and growth that occur during psychotherapy. Implications for clinical practice and directions for future research are discussed.