Child Psychodynamic Psychotherapy and Therapist Pregnancy: Systematic Case Study

Abstract

The present study aimed to describe the characteristics of the psychodynamic psychotherapeutic process of a child with a pregnant therapist and to identify possible repercussions of this pregnancy in the treatment. A descriptive, longitudinal study was conducted, based on systematic single case study procedure. The participants were an eight-year-old girl and her therapist who became pregnant during treatment. Forty psychotherapeutic sessions were analyzed through Child Psychotherapy Q-Set procedure. The therapeutic process was divided into four periods related to the therapist’s pregnancy: (1) the therapist was not pregnant; (2) therapist knew of her pregnancy but the topic had not been verbalized; (3) the pregnancy was treated in the therapeutic setting; (4) return of maternity leave. The results demonstrated that the therapist has adopted a less neutral stance, used less limits, and breaks and pauses in treatment were increasingly discussed. It was concluded that the therapist´s pregnancy influences the therapeutic setting in a marked way.

An unavoidable bump: A meta-synthesis of psychotherapists’ experiences of navigating therapy while pregnant

“…While new prospective methods to explore the clinical impact of therapist pregnancy are emerging (Schmidt, Gastaud & Ramires, 2018), published enquiries into pregnant and post-partum therapists' experiences of pregnancy have often lacked sufficient methodological rigour, using personal reflections and case vignettes to illustrate potential clinical issues (i.e., McGourty, 2013;Miller & Giffin, 2019;Silverman, 2001;Whyte, 2004). Alternatively, studies purporting to use empirical methodologies have tended to summarise interview data without including raw transcript excerpts (i.e., Bassen, 1988;Baum & Herring, 1975;Naparstek, 1976), thus limiting opportunities to assess study transparency and validity.…”