When real meets pretend: An exploration of the impact of the therapist's pregnancy on child psychotherapy.
Item
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Title
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When real meets pretend: An exploration of the impact of the therapist's pregnancy on child psychotherapy.
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Identifier
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AAI3159230
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identifier
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3159230
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Creator
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Locker-Forman, Alison.
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Contributor
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Adviser: Arietta Slade
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Date
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2005
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Language
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English
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Publisher
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City University of New York.
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Subject
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Psychology, Clinical
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Abstract
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This work is based on a prospective study of pregnant therapists who work with children in dynamically-oriented play therapy. It is an examination of the ways in which the therapist's pregnancy and changing body may affect her clinical work with children and her sense of self as a clinician. The study suggests that the process of pregnancy initiates profound changes in the therapist's mind and body which present particular challenges to therapists working with children. Pregnancy is seen as a concrete intrusion into the therapeutic dyad that may disrupt the balance of real and pretend and change the transitional nature of the play space. The study also explores the therapist's capacity to create and maintain a holding environment both for her baby and for her child patients during the course of her pregnancy. The changing quality of the therapist's maternal and rescue fantasies is highlighted and the nature of the therapist's guilt is explored. The mediating effect of the treatment population is also examined. The therapist's capacity for reflective functioning and how this capacity may shift during pregnancy is also discussed. Other topics that are addressed include supervision, parent work, and issues around disclosure.
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Type
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dissertation
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Source
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PQT Legacy CUNY.xlsx
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degree
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Ph.D.
