2025/12/19 by Wendy Bunston, Maureen Long, Margarita Frederico +2 · 1 voice
Psychology · #Child Therapy and Development #Counseling, Therapy, and Family Dynamics #Psychotherapy Techniques and Applications
paper · doi:10.61605/cha_3073
openalex created_date 2025/12/19 · openalex publication_date 2025/12/19 · openalex updated_date 2026/06/11
This paper reports on a retrospective, qualitative evaluation of an ‘infant and child-led’ therapeutic family practice approach undertaken by an infant-mental-health-trained family therapist between 2013 and 2023 with early years service providers working with families deemed to be ‘at risk’ within the Western suburbs of Melbourne, Australia. Direct, targeted, therapeutic consultations were delivered to families in situ (in the moment) alongside their key worker, with whom they had already built trust, and who could continue to build on the infant and child-led therapeutic approach undertaken during these sessions. This collaboration between the therapist and the key worker enabled the provision of time-limited, therapeutic consultations to families in their own home or in spaces that were familiar and felt safe. Data collection included an anonymous survey completed by key workers, and reflections from two program managers who supervised the key workers. The key workers who completed the surveys identified they had been impacted by the experience of actively involving and inviting in the voice and perspective of infants and children into the very space that constitutes why, as early years workers, they were involved with these families in the first instance. Workers reported that the quality of services delivered to these families was enhanced through their improved ability to adopt an infant and child-led approach in their practice.