Psychoanalytic Parent Infant Psychotherapy Research Version 1

• Research type

  Research Study

• Full title

  Parent Infant Psychotherapy: A qualitative study of what leads to change in personal relationships in families with children displaying pre-autistic behaviour

• IRAS ID

  215977

• Contact name

  Yvonne Osafo

• Contact email

  yvonneosafo@croydondropin.org.uk

• Sponsor organisation

  University of Essex

• Duration of Study in the UK

  1 years, 7 months, 3 days

• Research summary

  This study will look at a single case of a child under the age of two years who displays early signs of autism and will trace the correlation between the change in the child’s symptoms and concurrently explore the changes in the internal representations of the primary caregiver throughout a 20 session treatment of parent infant psychotherapy.The connection is seen as a circular one, each (autism and parental internal representations) affecting the other. The thesis postulates that an intervention in the relationship between the parent/s and child will alter both parental inner states, and the autistic symptoms. Though parent infant psychotherapy is known to improve the parent infant relationship, little has been researched with regard to its impact on regulatory conditions such as autism and how it relates to the primary caregiver. These conditions can be best understood in a relational context since disturbances in the parent child relationship are known to be risk factors for infant social and emotional disorders. Based on a qualitative narrative analysis of three sets of data; from caregiver interviews, process recorded notes of clinical sessions and from parent infant video material the hypothesis will be tested; that the capacity to change in internal representations correlates with the capacity to change in parent infant relationships which in turn leads to a relief in the symptoms of the pre-autistic child. This research is being undertaken by the Chief Investigator as an educational project, leading to a professional doctorate in psychoanalytic parent infant psychotherapy. The study will take place in the participant’s home and children’s centres within the context of a parent infant partnership that includes an umbrella organization (Parent Infant Partnership UK), a voluntary sector counselling service and a local authority universal service.

• REC name

  East of England - Essex Research Ethics Committee

• REC reference

  17/EE/0138

• Date of REC Opinion

  11 May 2017

• REC opinion

  Further Information Favourable Opinion