This week is Infant Mental Health Week #IMHAW21 which promotes how babies, toddlers and their families need access to mental health support as this lays the foundations for later health and wellbeing. Here, at Magnolia, we are now offering Parent Infant Psychotherapy which offers support to families of children aged 0-5 years.
The early years of life are a crucial period of change; a key moment for brain development. The First 1001 Days manifesto emphasises how important the first two years of life are and how baby’s social and emotional development is strongly affected by the quality of their attachment. This is why early intervention can be so effective and prevent difficulties later in life. Parent Infant Pyschotherapy puts the relationship between parent and baby/child at its centre.
“A baby cannot exist alone but is essentially part of a relationship” D.W. Winnicott, 1987
Last year, the Duchess of Cambridge launched crucial Early Years research specifically looking at the Under Fives. This revealed that a child’s experiences from conception through their first 5 years will go on to shape their next 50. Investing in early years is vital and supporting the child starts with supporting the parent and that means through pregnancy and beyond.
As a mother of two, a Music Therapist, and now training as a Parent Infant Psychotherapist I am passionate about the early years and also know how challenging they can be. As parents, we are under huge pressure to ‘get it right’ and to balance everything that modern life throws at us. Sometimes, we need to reach out for support, reassurance or someone to talk to. Becoming a parent is a huge transition that can sometimes come after a difficult time conceiving, losses, birth trauma. It can bring up feelings around the way we were parented, have an impact on your mental health or just be far more challenging than we ever imagined. We can be worried about our baby’s development or struggle with the relentlessness of everyday parenting. If we add in the trauma, isolation and worry of the last year and doing all of this in a global pandemic, it’s not surprising that many of us are struggling and concerned about our family’s wellbeing as well as our own.
Parent Infant Psychotherapy offers a safe, sensitive, non-judgemental space to explore concerns, work on your relationship and communication with your baby and to feel heard.
This approach is suitable for those who are:
· Finding being a parent hard to cope with
· Experiencing difficult feelings that have stirred up as a result of becoming a parent
· Are worried about their relationship with their baby
· Struggling with psychological aspects of problems with feeding, sleeping, excessive crying, or behaviour
· Are concerned about their baby or toddler’s development
· Are struggling with their own mental health in pregnancy or postnatally
· An adoptive parent who’d like support in developing their relationship with their new baby/child.
Belinda offers assessment, brief consultation or ongoing psychotherapy at Magnolia. Please get in touch via Magnolia on 01639 635000 or via email at enquiries@magnoliahealthandwellbeing.co.uk
Follow the hashtags below to access more information and events about Infant Mental Health:
@littlebylittlepip