Parent-infant psychoanalytic psychotherapy when child development is at risk: process assessment

Abstract

The aim of this study is understanding the psychotherapeutic process in parent-infant psychoanalytic psychotherapy when child development is at risk, focusing on therapeutic interventions. Participants in the research were a 4-month-old baby at the beginning of psychotherapy, whose development was at risk – assessed from the Risk Indicators for Child Development (IRDI) - her parents and a psychotherapist. Thirty parent-infant psychotherapy sessions were carried out over nine months, being recorded in audio and video and subsequently described in detail for classification and intervention analysis by two independent judges. Frequency analysis and qualitative analysis of the collected data were performed. The results showed that there was a change in the types and number of therapeutic interventions used throughout the treatment. The interventions which occurred the most were those specific to parent-infant psychoanalytic psychotherapy when child development is at risk, referred to as prosody. It is known that there is still much to be explored, and further studies would be needed to understand how other interventions in parent-infant psychoanalytic psychotherapy when child development is at risk are characterized, considering that this case may have its specificities, taking into account the history of the family and also the background and personal characteristics of the psychotherapist.