Baby lead the way: Mental health group work for infants, children and mothers affected by family violence

‘Infant led’ and ‘child led’ interventions designed to address the affects related to familial violence honour a ‘child up’, rather than a ‘parent down’ approach to dyadic work. The capacity to form healthy attachments is largely developed within early childhood. Relational disruption resulting from familial violence threatens to impair healthy attachments and the subsequent neurodevelopmental sequences involved in affect modulation. Two innovative mental health group work interventions within the Western Region of Metropolitan Melbourne work to enhance the attachments of infants and mothers, and children and mothers/carers affected by family violence.