https://www.um.edu.mt/library/oar/handle/123456789/323 2026-04-12T12:40:43Z https://www.um.edu.mt/library/oar/handle/123456789/142310 Title: ‘Parents as partners’ coparenting programme with parents of infants with a highly reactive temperament : a randomised controlled study Authors: Lanfranco, Ingrid M.; Abela, Angela; Cowan, Philip A.; Cowan, Carolyn Pape Abstract: The ‘Parents as Partners’ (PasP) coparenting programme was delivered to heterosexual parents of infants they described as showing a highly reactive temperament (HRT) following the completion of the Infant Behaviour Questionnaire–Revised (IBQ-R) during a standard post-natal visit in their local Health Centre Well Baby Clinic in Malta. Fifty-two participating Maltese couples, all coparenting a highly reactive infant of 8 to 12 months, were randomly assigned into an experimental (n = 30 couples) or control group (n = 25). The IBQ-R, Coparenting Relationship Scale (CRS), and Parental Stress Index (PSI-4 SF) at pre- and post-intervention periods were filled out by randomised participants. Intervention group couples followed the 16-week PasP programme. All randomised couples were followed by a case manager monthly. Post-intervention results compared with controls showed reduced couple conflict occurring in front of the child, reduced parent–child dysfunctional interaction, and a reduction in negative child reactivity. Implications point to the importance of including fathers and reducing coparenting conflict in interventions designed to reduce behavioural difficulties in infants and young children. 2025-01-01T00:00:00Z https://www.um.edu.mt/library/oar/handle/123456789/142206 Title: Beyond the surface : an exploration of family secrets as entry points into complex family dynamics Authors: Camilleri, Rosienne; Sammut Scerri, Clarissa Abstract: This paper explores how family secrets, silences, and disclosures encountered during childhood serve as pivotal elements in understanding complex family dynamics, as revealed through a qualitative study involving seven adult participants. Using a constructivist grounded theory approach, in-depth interviews were conducted to examine the participants’ experiences of secrecy within their families. The findings suggest that family secrets, rather than being isolated occurrences, function as ‘entry points’ into more intricate and often hidden family dynamics and underlying issues. These secrets unveil deeper layers of family relationships and communication patterns, providing a portal into unresolved conflicts and unspoken tensions. Participants’ narratives disclosed a broad spectrum of themes, including parental depression, life-threatening illness, paternity uncertainty, financial struggles, infidelity, violence, abuse, and inheritance disputes. The enduring impact of these secrets on the participants’ development, maturation, and relational functioning stresses the importance of addressing such dynamics in systemic therapeutic interventions. 2025-01-01T00:00:00Z https://www.um.edu.mt/library/oar/handle/123456789/142097 Title: Introduction : Developing psychotherapeutic innovation and imagination through phenomenology and qualitative research with particular reference to the nature of therapeutic knowledge Authors: Loewenthal, Del; Abela, Angela Abstract: "What psychotherapeutic research has been of benefit to your practice?" I (Loewenthal) was asked the above question on completing many years as the Founding Research Chair of a national psychotherapy organisation. Partly to my amazement, and partly with a dawning realisation that this was something I had always known, I realised my answer was (and is) 'not much'! However, this answer is dependent on what is regarded as 'research'. At the time then, and even more so now, research, at the very least in the case of psychotherapy, was becoming and has become synonymous with 'empirical' research. Yet there is also research that is 'theoretical' and research that is based in 'practice'. In both of these latter cases, I can give far more examples where I think such research has benefitted my work innovatively and imaginatively with clients/patients. These three distinctions of 'practice, 'theoretical', and 'empirical' research might sometimes be seen as having some loose similarity to the 'exploratory: 'descriptive, and 'causal' research types denoted in the classic text by Selltiz et al. (1959). 2026-01-01T00:00:00Z https://www.um.edu.mt/library/oar/handle/123456789/142092 Title: Developing psychotherapeutic innovation and imagination through phenomenology and qualitative research Authors: Loewenthal, Del; Abela, Angela Abstract: This book presents contemporary studies in qualitative psychotherapeutic research, examining their effectiveness in developing psychotherapeutic innovation and imagination. There is a focus on phenomenology, particularly given the growing prominence of interpretative phenomenological analysis (IPA). The book explores the tension between different forms of therapeutic knowledge-theoretical explicit knowledge, practice-derived explicit knowledge, and the crucial yet elusive tacit knowledge that emerges through clinical experience. While qualitative research methods attempt to transcend the limitations of quantitative approaches and access the communities of practice where tacit knowledge resides, the book questions their effectiveness in this pursuit. It argues that although phenomenological approaches offer valuable insights into both explicit and tacit dimensions of therapeutic practice, their increasing psychological orientation-rather than adherence to philosophical foundations-may ultimately constrain psychotherapeutic innovation and imagination. This volume will appeal to psychotherapists, clinical psychologists, qualitative researchers in mental health, and graduate students in psychology and counselling. It addresses key subject areas, including psychotherapy research methodology, qualitative approaches in mental health, IPA applications, philosophical underpinnings of therapeutic knowledge, and the ongoing debate around evidence-based practice in psychology. Academics researching psychotherapy and practitioners seeking to understand knowledge development and innovation in therapy will find this work particularly valuable. The chapters in this book were originally published as a special issue of European Journal of Psychotherapy and Counselling and are accompanied by an updated Introduction and a new Endnote. 2026-01-01T00:00:00Z