Modeling as an infant mental health intervention

Within the context of family therapy focused on the behavioral problems of a six year old, several observations of inappropriate interactions between the parents and their infant concerned the therapist. In consultation with an infant specialist it was decided that the therapist would avoid identifying parent-infant interactions as a further problem and would, instead, begin to model appropriate interactions during the on-going therapy sessions. The infant, initially passive, began to respond to the therapist and gradually the parents became more appropriate in their interactions with their infant. It was concluded that the modeling process minimized the stress and eliminated the need to process feelings of anger and guilt often associated with professional identification of family problems.