Program for Caregivers Involved With Mental Health Services

Feasibility Study of a Mentalization-based Parenting Program for Female Caregivers Involved in Mental Health Services.

The purpose of this two-year pilot study is to adapt a 12-week attachment-based parenting intervention for implementation with female adult caregivers who have or are at risk for long-term interpersonal conflict with family members, children, or significant others and are caring for a child between the ages of birth and 7 years.

The purpose of this two-year pilot study is to adapt a 12-week attachment-based parenting intervention (Parenting from the Inside Out or PIO) originally developed for substance abusing mothers (as part of an ongoing NIDA-funded treatment development study; R01 DA17294) for implementation with female adult caregivers who have or are at risk for long-term interpersonal conflict with family members, children, or significant others and are caring for a child between the ages of birth and 7 years. The PIO intervention involves 12-24 weekly 1 hour individual therapy sessions with Masters level therapists who are trained and supervised by Dr. Suchman (the Principal Investigator) in the PIO approach.

Inclusion Criteria:

• receive psychiatric services through the adult or young adult treatment team at the West Haven Mental Health Clinic
• have a child receiving psychiatric services through the child treatment team at the West Haven Mental Health Clinic
• express interest in receiving a parent intervention at the West Haven Mental Health Clinic

Exclusion Criteria:

• severe mental health problems (e.g., suicidal, homicidal, psychosis, thought disorder)
• severely cognitively impaired
• have psychiatric or substance-related symptoms requiring inpatient hospitalization or ambulatory detoxification
• are not fluent in English
• child has a serious illness or significant developmental delay (e.g., cognitive, language, or motor)