An international society for the understanding, prevention and treatment of mental illness related to child bearing.

Engaging Difficult To Reach Clients In Parent-Infant Work

Elke Andrees, BA, MA Appl. Psych., Manager Early Intervention Program, The Benevolent Society, 24a Ocean Street, Bondi 2026
E-mail: elkea@bensoc.asn.au Ph: 02-9365 7999

The window of opportunity for prevention in families with various risk factors is wide open during pregnancy and in the first few months postpartum. This time of 'maternal preoccupation' offers a unique in depth view into the complexity of factors brought together by parents' own history, baby's state and social/environmental circumstances. In these few months parents can be engaged to allow us to address painful issues that deeply affect the parent-infant relationship. The frame to hold such a delicate, powerful and primitive emotional balance needs to be a strong and flexible structure with the concept of psychological holding and containment as it's base.

The paper examines the challenges of successfully creating a therapeutic relationship with families through home-based parent-infant psychotherapy. Ways of regarding the therapeutic frame and the client-therapist relationship in home-based prevention work are examined and supported by case examples from the work of the Early Intervention Program.

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