Mothers’ experiences of change in Parent–Infant Psychotherapy for infants with feeding difficulties: an Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis

Although Parent–infant Psychotherapy (PIP) has demonstrated some effectiveness in improving infant attachment security, maternal representations and maternal mental health, not much research has examined how parents themselves experience change, particularly in the context of infant feeding difficulties. This doctoral study explores mothers’ lived experiences of change during PIP delivered within a specialist Parent-infant Feeding Clinic (PIFC) in an NHS Perinatal Parent-Infant Mental Health Service in England. Using Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (IPA), in-depth semi-structured interviews were conducted with four mothers of infants aged approximately 6 months to 3 years who had completed at least six parent infant psychotherapy sessions within PIFC. The analysis generated a set of Group Experiential Themes capturing both pre-therapy contexts and processes of change. Mothers described entering therapy in states of crisis, marked by anxiety, guilt, and relational rupture around feeding. Feeding difficulties were experienced as threats to maternal identity, confidence, and the developing parent-infant relationship. Change was described as gradual and relational, emerging through therapeutic containment and the restoration of reflective capacity. The more mothers felt emotionally held, the better able they were to reinterpret their infants’ communications, leading to shifts in feeding interactions alongside broader relational changes, including increased confidence, emotional regulation, and renewed connection. The findings illuminate experiential mechanisms of change in PIP beyond symptom reduction, highlighting the centrality of therapeutic containment and reflective processes. By focusing on mothers’ lived experience, this study contributes to the qualitative PIP literature and offers clinically relevant implications for parent-infant mental health services working with feeding difficulties.