ABSTRACT
Therapy in early parenthood differs according to the location of the problem – whether centred within the person referred, or necessitating joint therapy. Some therapists focus on areas of specific difficulty; others take a more generalized approach to the interaction. Apart from patients who begin therapy from, during, or before pregnancy, some people refer themselves or are referred soon after the birth of a baby with problems they clearly relate to the ricochet effect of exposure to primitive emotions. Psychotherapeutic treatment may involve mother and father jointly, or else one or both may be seen separately, with or without the baby. Postnatal therapy is in its infancy, born of increasing awareness of the importance of the early mother-baby exchange. Like parents with their baby, each therapist approaches a client with a particular orientation that is rooted in the theoretical framework she or he holds.
