USING MATERNAL REPRESENTATIONAL PATTERNS TO EVALUATE POSTPARTUM DEPRESSION

This paper investigates the link between maternal representational pat terns and postpartum depression. A clinical case illustrates how (1) a young mother's negative attachment to her own mother distorted memori es of childhood experience, (2) a ''regulator'' orientation to the mat ernal role, and (3) failure to reconcile the ''reality'' infant with t he ''fantasy'' infant prevented her from initiating an adaptive rappor t with the infant. A treatment protocol designed to enhance both the m other's representational skill and the dyadic interaction is presented . Specifically, treatment focused on identifying the source of the mot her's negative representations, as well as on instilling adaptive skil ls in the infant and re-invigorating the dyadic interaction.