title: Intercepting the intergenerational cycle of maternal trauma and loss through mother-infant psychotherapy: a case study using attachment-derived methods.
abstract: Some mothers who have recently lost a significant attachment figure may become mentally incoherent and sporadically even enter a trancelike, dissociative state. Such states of mind have been shown to predict infant attachment disorganization. Infants born close to the time of a parental loss are at a greater risk for intergenerational trauma. A background of maternal substance abuse is also known to increase such risk. We illustrate by way of a case study how a mother-infant group psychotherapy programme aimed at substance-abusing mothers may help to prevent the transmission of mother's unresolved trauma to the infant. Another goal was to discuss how attachment-derived methods (namely, Adult Attachment Interview, Strange Situation Procedure and the Emotional Availability Scales) may aid in understanding the effects of the intervention.
authors.affiliation: Department of Child Psychiatry, University of Tampere, Läkkisepänkatu 2 F 18, Tampere, Finland. ritva.belt@gmail.com
authors.forename: Ritva H
authors.initials: RH
authors.lastname: Belt
authors.forename: Anna
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Kouvo
authors.forename: Marjo
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Flykt
authors.forename: Raija-Leena
authors.initials: RL
authors.lastname: Punamäki
authors.forename: John D
authors.initials: JD
authors.lastname: Haltigan
authors.forename: Zeynep
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Biringen
authors.forename: Tuula
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Tamminen
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D005260:Female; D006117:Grief; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D033261:Maternal-Fetal Relations; D009034:Mother-Child Relations; D009769:Object Attachment; D011615:Psychotherapy, Group / Q000379:methods*; D018454:Spouses; D019966:Substance-Related Disorders / Q000628:therapy*