Pregnancy, parenthood and puerperium are periods of significant physical and psychological transformation and challenges for the mother, for both parents, and for the extended family.
Parenting is a process of giving birth to a mother and father, where attachment allows for affective development. Based on the ties within the couple, parental ties are formed, with new responsibilities and family roles. Male participation in parenting is currently more active and contributes to the formation of the father’s masculine identity. An agreement between the couple and the extended family is important, in order to safeguard intimacy, expectations and roles of parents and the rest of the family.
How can psychological support help ?
As for pregnancy, maternity and parenting, psychological support may help with feelings of distress, fear, past trauma, family conflicts, expectations management, role-playing as parents, intimate life, difficulties with the baby, and other situations that cause suffering to parents, baby and the rest of the family.
Psychological support frames the questions of parenting, through a scientific and rigorous method, when it studies and identifies the interventions that build and promote the healthy and happy management of emotions between parents and children. Individual capacities determine the psychological adaptation of the individual to the environment, and it is therefore extremely important to provide the parental figures with emotional and social skills and with the responsibility of transmitting them. Parental education cannot be based on a control of behaviour, but on understanding the emotions that explain them. Psychological support is intended to create a space for reflection and understanding all issues that concern parents and expectant mothers. Parents are informed about the most common changes and requirements with the birth of a child, so that they are more attentive, facing these changes with less anxiety and apprehension.
A space of security, reflection and sharing is created where parents can express their difficulties, fears, anxieties and doubts, and where they can discover or develop skills to solve them. Marriage and family stability are promoted through the discovery of new social and family roles (being a mother, being a father and being a child) without forgetting the couple .
In summary, in the Parenting consultation, the psychologist addresses topics such as :
Becoming a mother and father
Separation distress
Difficulties with the baby (e.g., feeding, sleep, crying …)
The sexuality of the couple
I, you and our baby
Moments as two
Integration fraternal relationships
Balanced integration of friends and family
Peer-Reviewed Communications
von Humboldt, S, Monteiro, A., & Leal, I. Intergenerational relationships among older adults and adult children: Ambivalent feelings. Presentation at the Gerontological Society of America’s (GSA), Austin. November, 2019. https://doi.org/10.1093/geroni/igz038.638 (Visualizar em Detalhe).
von Humboldt, S., Leal, I. & Monteiro, A. Ambivalent feelings in intergenerational relationships in old age. Presentation at the 19th WPA World Congress of Psychiatry. Lisbon, August, 2019.
von Humboldt, S. & Leal, I. Older adults and adult children: Intergenerational relationships and ambivalence. Presentation at the 19th WPA World Congress of Psychiatry. Lisbon, August, 2019.
Peer-Reviewed Abstracts
von Humboldt, S, Monteiro, A., & Leal, I. (2019). Intergenerational relationships among older adults and adult children: Ambivalent feelings. Innovation in Aging, 3(S1), 179-179. (View Details)
von Humboldt, S., Leal, I. & Monteiro, A. (2019). Ambivalent feelings in intergenerational relationships in old age. Book of Abstracts: 19th WPA World Congress of Psychiatry.
von Humboldt, S. & Leal, I. (2019). Older adults and adult children: Intergenerational relationships and ambivalence. Book of Abstracts: 19th WPA World Congress of Psychiatry.
