Better training for social workers on the impact insecure attachments have on children could see a ‘step-change’ in the quality of preventative mental health care, according to an MP.
In her contribution to a new collection of articles published by MPs on mental health, Conservative MP Andrea Leadsom also calls for greater provision of parent-infant psychotheraphy, claiming that it offers a “life changing intervention for struggling families”.
In the essay, entitled “The importance of early intervention”, Leadsom writes:
“The perception of mental health itself needs to change if we are to overcome the view that depression or other mental health problems are something that simply ‘happen’ to people and that they can snap out of it. That simply is not the case.”
“A step-change could be achieved through better front-line training, so that health visitors and social workers are aware of the implications of insecure attachment. The increasing awareness of parent-infant psychotherapy means that front-line staff will be able to signpost on cases where intervention is required.”
“Children’s centres are the ideal base for early years intervention, and some already seek trained parent infant psychotherapists to compliment their support for new families. There is an urgent need for more trained parent infant psychotherapists and for proper evaluation of the positive impact of support for the earlier relationship.”
Insecure attachments “are no respecter of wealth or class,” Leadsom argues. The impact can be felt by children whose mothers have come from abusive backgrounds themselves, right along to those of professionals becoming first-time parents, she states.
In addition to the emotional impact, Leadsom also points to the economic costs of failing to intervene early in children’s mental health. Her essay states that each looked after child costs the taxpayer £347 a day and each person in acute psychiatric inpatient care costs the taxpayer £225 a day.
What do you think? Is social work training on insecure attachment (an area I thought social workers received quite a bit of training on) not up to scratch?
Do you have any experience of patient-infant psychotherapy? What is your view of the approach? I notice a randomised controlled trial evaluating the intervention is in the pipeline.
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