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How do mothers with BPD traits experience changes in their relationship with their infants after engaging in an attachment focussed PIP?

Clark, Isla; (2020) How do mothers with BPD traits experience changes in their relationship with their infants after engaging in an attachment focussed PIP? Doctoral thesis (D.Psych), UCL (University College London). Green open access

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Abstract

This study investigates how three participants with traits of Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD) experience changes in their relationship with their infants after engaging in an attachment focussed parent-infant psychotherapy (PIP). It is a sub-study of a wider Randomized Control Trial (RCT) which investigated the outcomes of PIP for parents with mental health problems and their young infants (Fonagy, Sleed & Baradon, 2016). Data was based on a semi-structured interview and subjected to Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (IPA, Smith 1995, 1996) providing a qualitative perspective to get closer to the lived experience of the three participants. The themes that emerged were separated into improvements in the parent-infant relationship, and continued difficulties in the parent-infant relationship. The data illustrates the factors which supported two participants to experience positive changes between themselves and their infants which were namely; medication changes, support from an inpatient unit, time, praise from others, the ability to locate the source of change within themselves and the PIP sessions. Results in this theme varied for whilst the participant who had the most PIP sessions was able to see some positive changes in how she related to her baby, the participant with the least PIP sessions was able to describe the most positive change in her relationship with her infant. Failures in mentalization (Fonagy & Bateman, 2007), low levels of distress tolerance, poor coping strategies to manage distress, a sense of helplessness and isolation, interpersonal difficulties, continued mental health difficulties and an inability to locate the source of change within themselves are shown to stand as some obstacles for participants to experience changes in the relationship with their infants.

Type: Thesis (Doctoral)
Qualification: D.Psych
Title: How do mothers with BPD traits experience changes in their relationship with their infants after engaging in an attachment focussed PIP?
Event: UCL
Open access status: An open access version is available from UCL Discovery
Language: English
Additional information: Copyright © The Author 2020. Original content in this thesis is licensed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0) Licence (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). Any third-party copyright material present remains the property of its respective owner(s) and is licensed under its existing terms. Access may initially be restricted at the author’s request.
UCL classification: UCL
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences > Faculty of Brain Sciences
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences > Faculty of Brain Sciences > Div of Psychology and Lang Sciences
URI: https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/10115121
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