Department of Family Therapy Dissertations and Applied Clinical Projects

Date of Award

2022

Document Type

Dissertation - NSU Access Only

Degree Name

Doctor of Marriage and Family Therapy (DMFT)

Advisor

Christine Beliard

Abstract

This applied clinical project (ACP) explores the underpinning of Infant Mental Health (IMH) as a literature review on training and professional development regarding the intersection of high-risk pregnancy, infant mortality, and historical trauma for African American families. Core to this ACP, the researcher addresses how the effects of violent experiences like racism on parents, infants and young children greatly informs the need for culturally responsive clinical practice and capacity building in family therapy. This ACP also disaggregates narratives on health disparities for African American women during gynecological, perinatal, and infant loss periods to inform and empower family therapists with training alternatives to provide strength-based support. Additionally, the researcher explores how the psychopathology of IMH is pioneered within systems of quality prenatal care, the parent-child dyad, and supportive postnatal care for families. IMH brings new opportunities for providers and systems of care to operate from trauma-informed models of resiliency and justice. Resilience through the lens of IMH reveals the impact that prevention and early intervention can have on family systems and society. IMH shifts services in family therapy to prepare for birth equity. This includes family therapists in the prenatal, maternal mental health, and postnatal journey of care. By providing insight to the development of clinically meaningful nosology, this literature review highlights why classifications of psychopathology from early childhood through later in life is vital and how to integrate IMH through a case study.

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