ABSTRACT
As a result of therapeutic intervention, parents and infant each create a slightly changed self. This chapter summarizes what has emerged of the therapeutic factors. The new relational experiences infants and parents have with a therapist are likely to aid their internalizing of the therapeutic relationship and facilitate affective communication as well as enhance their capacity for containment. The therapeutic alliance, infant and parent's, and common therapeutic factors are two most important mechanisms of change. The alliance is an agreement between parent, infant, and therapist on the goals of therapy and a strong bond with a therapist building trust and expressing her understanding to infant and parent, to which the infant as therapist also contributes. The relationship of infant and parents with a therapist is a decisive factor contributing to the therapeutic action, with other factors such as interpretation of anxiety constellating this.
