Case Report: A Case Study Significance of the Reflective Parenting for the Child Development

There are studies that connect the “child” in the past with the “parent” in the present through the prism of high levels of stress, guilt, anxiety. This raises the question of the experiences and internal work patterns formed in childhood and developed through parenthood at a later stage. The article (case study) presents the quality of parental capacity of a family raising a child with an autism spectrum. The abilities of parents (the emphasis is on the mother) to recognize and differentiate the mental states of their non-verbal child are discussed. An analysis of the parental representations for the child and the parent–child relationship is developed. The parameters of reflective parenting are measured. The methodology provides good opportunities for identifying deficits in two aspects: parenting and the functioning of the child itself. Without their establishment, therapy could not have a clear perspective. An integrative approach for psychological support of the child and his family is presented: psychological work with the child on the main areas of functioning, in parallel with the therapy conducted with the parents and the mother, as the main caregiver. The changes for the described period are indicated, which are related to the improvement of the parental capacity in the mother and the progress in the therapy in the child. A prognosis for ongoing therapy is given, as well as topics that have arisen in the process of diagnostic procedures.

Minding the Baby®: Enhancing parental reflective functioning and infant attachment in an attachment-based, interdisciplinary home visiting program

In this article, we describe the results of the second phase of a randomized controlled trial of Minding the Baby (MTB), an interdisciplinary reflective parenting intervention for infants and their families. Young first-time mothers living in underserved, poor, urban communities received intensive home visiting services from a nurse and social worker team for 27 months, from pregnancy to the child's second birthday. Results indicate that MTB mothers' levels of reflective functioning was more likely to increase over the course of the intervention than were those of control group mothers. Likewise, infants in the MTB group were significantly more likely to be securely attached, and significantly less likely to be disorganized, than infants in the control group. We discuss our findings in terms of their contribution to understanding the impacts and import of intensive intervention with vulnerable families during the earliest stages of parenthood in preventing the intergenerational transmission of disrupted relationships and insecure attachment.

Supporting foster carers to meet the needs of looked after children: A feasibility and pilot evaluation of the Reflective Fostering Programme

This study presents the feasibility and pilot evaluation of the Reflective Fostering Programme (RFP), a recently developed, group-based program to support foster carers, based on the concept of “reflective parenting.” This innovative development follows calls by the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence and other organizations to help improve outcomes for children in care by providing better support to their carers. This study aimed to establish whether it is possible to implement the RFP and to gather preliminary data on the acceptability and effectiveness of the program. Twenty-eight foster carers took part in the study. Results indicate that training and delivery of the RFP were feasible; the program was felt to be relevant and meaningful to both foster carers and social care professionals delivering it. Preliminary pre-post evaluation showed a statistically significant improvement in foster carers’ stress, their achievement of self-defined goals and child’s emotion lability and overall strengths and difficulties. There were no statistically significant changes in carers’ reflective functioning, although some foster carers reported on changes in reflective capacity during focus groups. Preliminary findings about the feasibility of training and delivery of the RFP, as well as the acceptability and effectiveness of the program, are encouraging, but further impact evaluation is needed.