Premium
Mother—infant psychotherapies: A widening scope in technique
Author(s) -
Cramer Bertrand
Publication year - 1998
Publication title -
infant mental health journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.693
H-Index - 75
eISSN - 1097-0355
pISSN - 0163-9641
DOI - 10.1002/(sici)1097-0355(199822)19:2<151::aid-imhj5>3.0.co;2-r
Subject(s) - scope (computer science) , psychology , psychotherapist , infant mental health , affect (linguistics) , cognition , focus (optics) , mental health , computer science , psychiatry , communication , physics , optics , programming language
Evidence‐based practice in psychotherapy is gaining ground, but we are in great need of more detailed study concerning some basic aspects: the interrelationships between nonspecific and specific factors and their impact on outcome and the precise observation of what goes on between therapist and patient. A comparison of two forms of mother–infant psychotherapy reveals an important gap between what therapists believe and what they actually do. We describe several components of processes: the contribution of the infant, the treatment of affect, the construction of an interpretative focus, and the relationships between cognitive and emotional contributions. These observations indicate the need for a more realistic appraisal of what goes on in technique applications, as well as for a widening of the definition of technique. © 1998 Michigan Association for Infant Mental Health