A qualitative study of the experience of parents attending a psychoanalytically informed parent-toddler group

摘要

The paper presents the findings of a qualitative study into the experience of seven parents attending a psychoanalytically informed parent-toddler group. Semi-structured interviews were carried out with each parent, and analysed using Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis. Analysis of the interviews led us to three 'superordinate themes', each of which captures a certain aspect of the parents' experiences of attending the toddler groups. These themes were: the setting of the toddler groups; what it was like as a parent coming to these groups; and how parents felt their toddlers experienced coming. Within each theme there were a number of subordinate themes that captured particular aspects of the overall experience, and these are presented in narrative form, with extracts from the interview data to help illustrate the themes. It is argued that service users' views are an important part of evaluation, and that there may be certain features of a psychoanalytically informed parent-toddler group that are distinctive.