2002 International International Biennial Scientific Meeting

WHAT ARE THE DIFFERENTIAL BENEFITS OF TREATING MOTHERS WITH DEPRESSION IN POSTNATAL DEPRESSION (PND) THERAPY GROUPS AND PARENT-INFANT (P-I) THERAPY GROUPS?

Margaret Booker

Tresillian Family Care Centres, Sydney

peterhag@tpg.com.au

Objectives: Compare two of Tresillian's therapy groups to demonstrate how they complement and inform each other. One client's path through a PND and P-I group will be followed to illustrate the topic. I will discuss how these groups capture the same population of new mothers experiencing depression and how group therapy achieves change in interpersonal functioning.

Methods: My description of both groups will amplify the main difference (they are increasingly similar in content and aims) which is in the process of the 'here and now'; the main tool of the facilitator. In one this is the interaction between mother and infant in the other the interaction between mother and mother. I will examine how these groups achieve change through the dual process of emotional experience and reflection on that experience in an interpersonal context (Yalom I.D.1995). The between is where the most powerful things happen in groups: it is the rationale for using group therapy. And in all therapy, grappling with hope (here the hope of being able to love and be loved, but also the dialectic between 'old' and 'new' hopes, Mitchell S.A.1993) is central. Both groups do this well (describe how) though, again, the means are different. The PND group guides members through self-disclosure into an authentic connection with others. The P-I group guides members into an experience of relationship with their infants.

Observations: PND and attachment problems are hard to separate for service delivery purposes. What are the best ways to target membership and ensure the two groups complement each other? Could we meld the best of both into one program?