ABSTRACT

This book explores how psychoanalytic principles can be applied when working with parents and toddlers in groups. Illustrated with lively observations, it discusses how these parent-toddler groups can be an effective medium for early intervention during a period which is critical for the negotiation of a child’s central emotional issues.

Parents and Toddlers in Groups demonstrates the particular challenges of the toddler phase and its contribution to an individual’s future development and relationships. Focusing on an approach developed by the Anna Freud Centre and comprising chapters from a range of expert contributors, topics include:

    • the history, theory and practice of parent-toddler groups at the Anna Freud Centre
    • how this approach has been adapted and applied across a wide range of settings and cultures
    • the findings of research projects carried out on parent-toddler groups.

This book will be a valuable resource for practitioners wanting to reach parents and young children in community, educational and a variety of other settings. It will also appeal to child psychotherapists and psychologists working in CAMHS teams.

part |81 pages

The Anna Freud Centre parent-toddler groups

part |73 pages

Adaptations and applications of the Anna Freud Centre approach

chapter |11 pages

Difference and disability

Experiences in a specialist toddler group

chapter |12 pages

Running a toddler group on a council housing estate

Invisibility, intrusion, dislocation and the importance of boundaries 8

chapter |12 pages

Reaching out to vulnerable parents and toddlers

Establishing a parenttoddler group in a deprived area of South London

chapter |7 pages

Integrating parents and toddlers with special needs

Parent-toddler groups in St. Petersburg 13

chapter |10 pages

Integration, sharing and separation

Introducing the concept of toddlers and toddler groups in Greece

chapter |8 pages

Finding our own path

Engaging working parents in a toddler group in Peru

part |30 pages

Research and evaluation