Understanding and helping mothers of children with 'special needs' using personal construct group work

This study aimed to describe the experiences of mothers who have children (3-12 years) with 'special needs,' using personal construct psychology. Personal construct group work was provided for them and evaluated. Twelve women participated, six of whom had the six sessions of group work and six made up a wait list control. Self-Characterisations elicited the self-construing of the mothers, and a measure of life satisfaction was also used. Both qualitative and quantitative analyses were conducted. The participants' responses and the measure provided some support for this use of group work. The limitations of the study were noted, with suggestions for future research. Finally, some of the implications of the research findings for service delivery were provided.