Therapeutic play within infant-parent psychotherapy and the treatment of infant feeding disorders

Infant Mental Health Journal
Brigid Jordan

Abstract

This clinical article presents an infant mental health approach to the treatment of feeding disorders in infants and toddlers that involves the infant-parent psychotherapist directly working with the infant's representations within infant-parent psychotherapy sessions. The treatment is informed by an assessment of the infant's emotional development, subjective experience, and the dynamics of the infant-parent relationship. This model involves therapeutically using play and words with infants and draws upon concepts from D.W. Winnicott and attachment theory as well as principles from the psychodynamic treatment of posttraumatic stress disorder in infants. The model was developed from clinical work over 2 decades in a tertiary pediatric hospital with infants who presented with feeding disorders ranging from breast or bottle refusal, refusal to wean onto solids, feeding aversion, tube dependency, and failure to thrive.

References

Nov 11, 1998·Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry·I ChatoorR J Harmon
Aug 8, 2007·The International Journal of Psycho-analysis·Frances Thomson Salo
Jan 1, 2007·Infant Mental Health Journal·Aletha Solter

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Citations

Jul 21, 2017·JPEN. Journal of Parenteral and Enteral Nutrition·Terence Michael DoveyCaroline Meyer
Nov 3, 2016·Archives of Disease in Childhood·Raja MukherjeeSarah H Norgate
Dec 12, 2012·European Child & Adolescent Psychiatry·Margarete I Bolten
May 6, 2020·International Journal of Speech-language Pathology·Emily JonesTom Nicholson

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