‘We’ in quarantine: working with groups of parents from in-presence to remote

ABSTRACT

The authors reflect on the experience of working with groups of parents of children with mental or physical disabilities, which had started long before the Covid lockdown and continued online after a brief interruption due to the pandemic. The reflection is still ongoing, and it is not possible for the moment to draw definitive conclusions. The experience of the groups working online, despite the initial mistrust, has proved useful, albeit in a peculiar way, different from before. In a group already formed and accustomed to sharing anxieties and problems, it was possible to maintain the vitality of relationships, the group continuing to function as a thinking container. The participants had the opportunity to reflect on the new experiences they were having at home with their children, even discovering in themselves new parenting skills. The inevitable changes in the setting have required for the psychotherapists leading the groups to pay special attention in maintaining their psychoanalytic listening skills, and they have also triggered some questions, which still need to be thought about.

KEYWORDS:

• Parents
• working online
• pandemic
• lockdown

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Sandra Carpi Lapi

Sandra Carpi Lapi is a child and adolescent psychotherapist, PhD in Developmental Psychology, University of Florence, Italy. Member of AMHPPIA, Associazione Martha Harris Psicoterapia Psicoanalitica dell’Infanzia e dell’Adolescenza, Florence, Italy.

Elisabetta Fattirolli

Elisabetta Fattirolli is a child and adolescent psychotherapist. Scientific secretary of AMHPPIA, Associazione Martha Harris Psicoterapia Psicoanalitica dell’Infanzia e dell’ Adolescenza, Florence, Italy. Full member AIPPI, Associazione Italiana di Psicoterapia Psicoanalitica dell’Infanzia dell’Adolescenza e della Famiglia, Roma, Italy.

Maria Grazia Pini

Maria Grazia Pini is a child and adolescent psychotherapist. Member of AMHPPIA, Associazione Martha Harris Psicoterapia Psicoanalitica dell’Infanzia e dell’Adolescenza, Florence, Italy. Teacher and Organising Director at the Centro Studi Martha Harris Clinical Training, Florence, Italy.