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Modeling as an infant mental health intervention
Author(s) -
Knuckman Paul
Publication year - 1982
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 - 10.1002/1097-0355(198223)3:3<184::aid-imhj2280030308>3.0.co;2-t
Subject(s) - intervention (counseling) , anger , infant mental health , feeling , context (archaeology) , psychology , identification (biology) , mental health , psychotherapist , family therapy , developmental psychology , clinical psychology , social psychology , psychiatry , paleontology , botany , biology
Within the context of family therapy focused on the behavioral problems of a six year old, several observations of inappropriate interactions between the parents and their infant concerned the therapist. In consultation with an infant specialist it was decided that the therapist would avoid identifying parent‐infant interactions as a further problem and would, instead, begin to model appropriate interactions during the on‐going therapy sessions. The infant, initially passive, began to respond to the therapist and gradually the parents became more appropriate in their interactions with their infant. It was concluded that the modeling process minimized the stress and eliminated the need to process feelings of anger and guilt often associated with professional identification of family problems.