Parent-Infant Psychotherapy
Pregnancy and the birth of a newborn can stir up many different feelings and anxieties in mothers, fathers, and other family members. Every parent will approach pregnancy, birth, and parenthood with their own hopes, fears, and life experiences.
A difficult pregnancy, traumatic birth, perinatal loss, bereavement in the family, childhood experiences of being parented, or more relatively common conditions such as anxiety and post-natal depression can all create disruptions in the bonding process between parent and infant. These factors can lead to both the baby and parents feeling overwhelmed and struggling to cope. Parent-Infant Psychotherapy is a therapeutic intervention that helps to promote the development of the relationship between parent and infant.
Parent-Infant psychotherapy can help with a range of difficulties and conditions including (but not limited to):
- Relational difficulties with the parent-infant relationship (e.g., struggling to bond, attachment difficulties, traumatic birth)
- Excessive crying
- Problems with feeding/eating
- Sleep problems
- Temper tantrums/aggression/anger
- Hyperactivity
- Head banging
- Hair pulling
Parent-Infant Psychotherapy provides a space to think about the difficulties you may be experiencing with your infant and explore how past experiences may be impacting on the present. The work can involve either or both parents, and your infant will also be an active partner in the process. Through my specialist training in infant observation and pre-verbal communication, I apply these skills to help us try to understand what your baby might be communicating alongside it being an opportunity to talk about your experiences, thoughts, and feelings towards your infant.
One of the greatest strengths of Parent-Infant Psychotherapy is how quickly it can bring about change during the early stages of the infant's life and the parent-infant relationship.