A Parents’-eye view of the MotC: Caregiving in harsh environments

Juliet Kesteven and Dr Ben Grey will continue to develop the themes put forward in the Don’t Blame the Parents day last year.  The Meaning of the Child Interview (MotC) and CARE-index patterns of caregiving (Sensitive, Controlling, Unresponsive), as well as the circle of subpatterns, refer to how the parent’s care might be experienced by a particular child.   They don’t in themselves, describe the parent, or how the parent experiences the relationship.  This raises important questions:

• What might it be like if we looked at the relationship the other way around?
• Could we re-invent the MotC circle from the parents’ point of view?
• How far can we go with this without losing the perspective of the child, or our ability to critique the parent?

All the language that we use about parenting is potentially morally loaded, but we cannot escape this simply by using letters and numbers, or obsure terms, or seeking truly ‘objective’ words.  Instead, we want to highlight how different terminology represents a different way of giving meaning to what is going on in the parent-child relationship.  By exploring the parental perspectives inherent in ‘controlling’ and ‘unresponsive’ caregiving, we may be able to help professionals get closer to a parent’s experience in struggling relationships, whilst still holidng in mind potential consequences for the child and others.

Who is it for?

The course is designed for anyone trained in or familiar with the MotC.  Others may attend, but may find some terminology or concepts discussed unfamiliar.

What will happen?

The day will comprise of:

• A presentation and discussion, led by Ben on understanding MotC patterns from the parents’ point of view
• Discussion with Juliet, Ben and the group as to how this can be used in clinical practice. Will this help in working with parents?  How can we understand the concept of risk to the child with this in mind?
• ‘Live’, supported, classification of an MotC interview focussing on these issues, drawing out how the MotC illuminates the parents’ experience without losing our ability to also critique it.

Cost:  £125   Students £70

The training will be conducted online on Zoom.