MASTER CLASS 1 – Sunday 27th 08:00-8:55
Promoting Infant Mental Health among Mothers in Remote Rural Environments: the Example of Bedouin Mothers in Palestine
Ghassan Abdallah (Palestine)
The main aim of this Master Class is to show how can infant mental health be promoted in remote areas with very low psychological awareness and hardship in daily life. As a paradigm, we will present the work of the newly created WAIMH Palestine Affiliate with Bedouin young mothers in Jericho and in Hebron . The major aim of the project was to make them aware of the existence of emotional life in their infants, a notion that is totally unfamiliar to the Bedouin community. We have put in place a program that includes basic knowledge about parent-infant communication, the link between daily care and secure attachment, as well as the young children emotional responses to intra-familial and external conflicts and violence. The concept of diagnosing infants and planning for intervention has also been introduced to them, in spite of the strong stigma linked to mental health.
MASTER CLASS 2 – Saturday 26th May 15:00-15:55
Differential Susceptibility to Environmental Influences: Observational Evidence and Mechanisms
Jay Belsky (United States)
This master class focuses on longitudinal research documenting differential susceptibility to environmental influences.
MASTER CLASS 3 – Monday 28th 08:00-08:55
Traumatized Parents: Skirting the Abyss in Therapy
Neil Boris (United States of America)
This session focuses on metallization-based therapeutic approaches with traumatized parents using case material and discussion. Topics of focus will include using a “reflective stance,” addressing life course trauma as that trauma impacts relationships including the parent-child relationship and managing affect regulation in the therapy.
MASTER CLASS 4 – Sunday 27th 08:00 -08:55
Exploring the Continuity of Triangular Family Communication. Zero to Fifteen
Elisabeth Fivaz-Depeursinge (Switzerland)
The infant’s capacity for triangular communication during infancy, and its association with the quality of the coparenting alliance, have been well documented in longitudinal studies in various versions of the Lausanne Trilogue Play (LTP). A study in progress examines the continuity of triangular communication in the family from zero to age fifteen in a longitudinal sample (N=38). In this presentation, contrasting cases of good enough versus problematic family triangular processes will be used to illustrate this continuity. Microanalysis of video-recorded triangular interactions are presented from the LTP at 18 months and at 15 years. Applications for future research and clinical assessment will be discussed.
MASTER CLASS 5 – Sunday 27th 08:00 -08:55
Why assessing infant social withdrawal behavior?
Antoine Guedeney (France)
The Master class will describe briefly the origins and the use of the Alarm Distress BaBy scale, designed by Guedeney & Fermanian in 2001. It will give an overview of the results of some major studies having used it in different cultures and different populations. Theoretically designed after the NBAS, the scale is meant to assess the best relational abilities of the infant through his or her ability to engage and sustain relationship with an adult, which will be shown through video clips.
MASTER CLASS 6 – Monday 28th 08:00-08:55
The effect of maternal Interpersonal psychotherapy on child well-being
Hasse Karlsson (Finland)
There is increasing evidence that treating maternal depression with Interpersonal Psychotherapy (IPT) decreases child symptoms. In this master class, the existing evidence on the effectiveness of IPT is reviewed and the basics of IPT will be taught to the participants.