61st Annual Meeting

October 18 - 25, 2014

Clinical Case Conference 6 (open)

Providing Lenses for Looking at the Intergenerational Impact of Maternal Mental Illness on Young Children

In situations where a parent has mental illness, it is often a grandparent who steps in as primary caregiver. Evaluating young children being raised by grandparents is challenging, as it requires evaluation of all the intergenerational relationships involved in order to provide the best treatment for the child. Participants 1) learn what impact intergenerational mental illness has on the mother-child, grandmother-child, and mother-grandmother attachment relationships; 2) can identify key issues in the treatment of infants with parents who have mental illness and the challenges they face in deciding where the focus of treatment should be using the best interests of the child as a guide; 3) understand the impact of culture on a family impacted by mental illness, as well as the difficulties potential deportation presents; and 4) recognize forensic issues involved with young children whose parent has mental illness.