The Connecting and Reflecting Experience (CARE): theoretical foundation and development of mentalizing-focused...

In underserved communities with limited resources and disproportionately high morbidity and mortality rates, attachment-based, short-term, group interventions that are effective yet simple to disseminate can have a profound public health impact. This paper describes the implementation of a mentalizing-focused group parenting intervention. The Connecting and Reflecting Experience (CARE) serves primary caregivers of children from birth to 18 years within a diverse and impoverished community setting. Families living in communities facing health disparities are at heightened risk for intergenerational cycles of trauma which give rise to myriad public health crises at high societal cost. CARE's mission is to facilitate the intergenerational transmission of secure attachment which can profoundly reduce rates of psychiatric illness for future generations. The theoretical and empirical bases for the intervention and the evidence base for existing mentalizing-focused parenting interventions are reviewed. The program's structure and treatment goals are presented in the context of clinical case material.