Marked By Maternal Depression: The Images Of The Mother In The Therapy Of An Elementary School Child

The paper deals with the issue of the influence chronic depression in the mother exercises on the psychological functioning of the elementary school child. Despite the fact that parental depression, especially in mothers, is a risk factor for social and psychological disorders in children, most studies focus on postpartum depression. We give an example of social withdrawal and peer rejection in a case of a 9-year-old boy who goes through analytic therapy. The images of his relationship with his mother which emerge during sandplay therapy expose his attitude towards the world as an unpredictable, and deadly dangerous place. The dynamics of sand pictures reveals the importance of maternal object and its vital place in the inner world of a child in comparison with other social objects, and gradual changes for a picture of a more understandable and predictable world to deal with.

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