OXPIP - Oxford Parent Infant Project

Founded in 1998, OXPIP helps parents and their babies in Oxfordshire to build close and supportive relationships. OXPIP is a service specialising in the emotional needs of parents and babies, from conception and throughout the first two years of life. Our capacity to feel, communicate and regulate our emotions is rooted in the first 1001 critical days of life: and is affected by the quality of the nurturing relationship between the caregiver and infant.

Parents in Oxfordshire can contact us directly or are referred for a variety of reasons which may include post-natal depression, a baby that struggles to sleep or feed, anxieties about parenthood or a difficult birth experience. There may also be issues from the parent’s past, or from the transition to parenthood, which affect the relationship now that they are parents themselves. We may see clients 1:1, as a family or in a group, and use a range of interventions such as watch, wait and wonder, VIG and baby watching.

Training and Consultancy

In addition to the clinical work, OXPIP provides consultation, workshops and training to a wide range of professionals on the importance of early attachment and infant mental health. 

OXPIP works with other service providers locally and nationally to promote the importance of very early intervention within policy and practice.  

Parent-Infant Therapy

Our clinical team are specialists in parent-infant work. They have all previously trained as counsellors, psychotherapists or clinical psychologists with training in psychoanalytical/psychodynamic work. Many also have professional training as social workers, health visitors and midwives. 

There are many issues that can affect a parent's relationship with their baby. Relationships are at the heart of our lives - but they are not always simple or happy. Research tells us that early experiences and damaged relationships can have lifelong consequences.

OXPIP offers therapeutic support to parents with a wide range of difficulties including: Low mood, anxiety, isolation, trauma during pregnancy and birth, unsettling and confusing feelings, a baby who struggles to eat or sleep, struggling with feelings around parenthood.

Early Intervention is now firmly on the government agenda. OXPIP is recognised as a pioneer in this field and is actively contributing to policy development at a national, cross-party level. A commitment to the importance of the earliest possible intervention remains at the core of OXPIP's work.