Levels of Change in Parent-Infant Psychotherapy
Abstract
This paper offers a way of thinking about the process of parent–infant psychotherapy. I start by outlining some ideas as to what can go awry in troubled parent–infant relationships, and then a way of working with parents with pre-verbal babies. I suggest a model for understanding three interlaced levels at which change might occur if a psychodynamic, systemically sensitive, therapeutic intervention is offered. I describe a particularly challenging clinical case in which a mother and I also worked with video material of her and her son.
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The therapist's ability to contain the distress of both and put into words the emotional happenings experienced allows the parent to become more aware of his or her own distress and defenses.
“The therapist’s ability to contain the distress of both and put into words the emotional happenings experienced allows the parent to become more aware of his or her own distress and defenses [46].”
From Psychoanalytic Interventions with Abusive Parents: An Opportunity for Children’s Mental Health (2022) · cites this paper as [46]
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- Authors
- Jones, A.
- Corresponding author
- Jones, Amanda
- ORCID
- Jones, Amanda
- Venue
- Journal of Child Psychotherapy
- Publisher
- Informa UK Limited
- Published
- 2006-12
- Volume
- 32
- Issue
- 3
- Pages
- 295-311
- ISSN
- 0075-417X (ISSN-L)
- 1469-9370
- OpenAlex
- W1974178121
- Cited by
- 16
- References
- 41
- Citations by year
- 2025: 1 · 2024: 1 · 2023: 1 · 2022: 1 · 2021: 1 · 2020: 1 · 2017: 3 · 2015: 1 · 2014: 1 · 2013: 2 · 2012: 1
- FWCI
- 0.37
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Journal of Child Psychotherapy (publishedVersion)
- Funders
- Johns Hopkins University
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Psychoanalysis and Psychopathology Research
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Psychotherapy Techniques and Applications
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Public Health, Environmental and Occupational Health › Maternal Mental Health During Pregnancy and Postpartum
- Keywords
- parent-infant psychotherapy, psychodynamic psychotherapy, systemic therapy, video feedback, mother-son relationship
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