Infant-parent psychotherapy programs for high-risk mothers

As promised, not all post will be about social neuroscience. The Sunday NY Times featured a story on a clinic in New York that offers mental health services to at-risk new mothers and their babies. The article discusses several women who experienced numerous mental health problems before, during and after pregnancy. Psychologists help these new mothers cope with the pressures of parenthood and with their often difficult pasts that typically include physical and psychological abuse.

This work is extremely important for a couple of reasons. One, high-risk parents often produce high-risk children, and that will have a negative affect on society for years to come. Second, when we think about this in terms of synaptic plasticity (see previous blog post), it makes sense that these children who are raised under such stressful conditions are more likely to be depressed, anti-social, and generally unhealthy children.

The New York Times: For Mother and Child at Risk, Care that Includes a Psychologist