Palgrave Texts in Counselling and Psychotherapy the Meaning of Child Interview

This handbook provides an accessible and thought-provoking guide to the Meaning of the Child Interview (MotC), a tool for understanding family relationships. The MotC uses a semi-structured interview in which parents talk about their child, their relationship with their child, and their parenting. The Meaning of the Child Interview is the most important development in the field of attachment and caregiving since the Adult Attachment Interview. Dr Steve Farnfield, course founder, Attachment Studies postgraduate programme, University of Roehampton, UK, co-editor: ‘The Routledge Handbook of Attachment’ This textbook provides an accessible and thought-provoking guide to the Meaning of the Child interview (MotC), a tool for understanding family relationships. The MotC uses a semi-structured interview in which parents talk about their child, their relationship with their child, and their parenting, which is then carefully analysed using a process described in this book. This book is a guide to understanding parental discourse, showing how the method works, and how it can be used to plan intervention, guide practice and conduct research. The book will be invaluable to child welfare and mental health practitioners looking apply these ideas and principles, as current manuals formally assessing attachment and caregiving largely remain as unpublished manuscripts accessible only through lengthy and costly training. The book includes chapters co-authored by researchers and practitioners describing how the MotC has been used in innovative contexts to support families. It seeks to make few demands of prior knowledge, using many examples and summaries to assist the reader. By attending closely to how parents story their experience, and their child’s, in the context of ongoing challenges, this book offers a pathway for practice based on understanding struggling parenting as a relationship situated in adversity, rather than an individual failing, worthy of blame. Dr Ben Grey is Principal Lecturer (for Research) on the Clinical Psychology doctorate, University of Hertfordshire, UK. He is also a social worker, psychologist and the former lead for the attachment programme at the University of Roehampton. He has conducted training, worked in and published widely on attachment, parenting assessment, family court, and child-welfare practice. This handbook provides an accessible and thought-provoking guide to the Meaning of the Child Interview (MotC), a tool for understanding family relationships. It is edited and written by the MotC’s developer, with contributions from leading researchers and practitioners using the MotC in innovative contexts to support families. The MotC uses a semi-structured interview in which parents talk about their child, their relationship with their child, and their parenting. A process of analysis is outlined, including using the method to plan intervention, guide practice, and conduct research. This book offers a practical guide to applying attachment and caregiving research for child welfare and mental health professionals. Prior knowledge is not assumed, and many examples and summaries are used to assist the reader. By focussing upon how parents story their experience, and their child’s, in the context of ongoing challenges, this book facilitates practice based on understanding struggling parenting as a relationship situated in adversity, rather than an individual failing, worthy of blame.