Infant Observation: Creating Transformative Relationships

by Frances Thomson-Salo

Overview

Seminal and representative papers have been chosen to illustrate the vital importance of infant observation in psychoanalytic training, tracing influences on the practice of infant observation and contemporary developments. The book outlines the thinking that has evolved since Esther Bick's introduction of this innovative component in Tavistock child psychotherapy and British Psychoanalytical Society training.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781782200758
Publisher:	Taylor & Francis
Publication date:	05/19/2014
Pages:	314
Product dimensions:	7.40(w) x 9.60(h) x 1.00(d)

About the Author

Frances Thomson-Salo is a Member of the British Psychoanalytic Society as a child and adult psychoanalyst and is an Associate Professor of University of Melbourne. She was appointed Overall Chair of the IPA Committee of Women in Psychoanalysis by Charles Hanly in 2009. She is immediate past President of the Australian Psychoanalytical Association and a Training Analyst in private practice. She is a Consultant Infant Mental Health Clinician in the Royal Women's Hospital Centre, Melbourne; Associate Researcher for the Murdoch Children’s Research Institute; and on the teaching faculty for the University of Melbourne Graduate Diploma/Masters in Infant and Parent Mental Health. She has published in the fields of child psychoanalysis and psychotherapy, and infant mental health.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgements ix

About the Editor and Contributors xi

Part I Infant Observation

Chapter 1 Introduction to infant observation: an infant's inner world Frances Thomson-Salo 3

Introduction to Chapter Two 15

Chapter 2 Infant observation in psycho-analytic training Esther Bick 17

Introduction to Chapter Three 29

Chapter 3 Three years infant observation with Esther Bick Jeanne Magagna 30

Introduction to Chapter Four 49

Chapter 4 A feeding observation: from breast to finger food! Jane Blatt 51

Part II Significant Developments of Infant Observation as a Method within Psychoanalytic Training

Introduction to significant developments of infant observation 73

Introduction to Chapter Five 83

Chapter 5 The dangers and deprivations of too-good mothering Juliet Hopkins 85

Introduction to Chapter Six 97

Chapter 6 Premature twins on a neonatal intensive care unit Margaret Cohen 99

Introduction to Chapter Seven 119

Chapter 7 A therapeutic application of infant observation in child psychiatry Didier Houzel 121

Part III Research in Infant Observation

Introduction to research in infant observation 135

Introduction to Chapter Eight 141

Chapter 8 The shadow of ending: a retrospective qualitative research study of mothers' experience of infant observation Dimitra Bekos 143

Part IV Problematic Aspects of Infant Observation

Introduction to problematic aspects of infant observation 165

Introduction to Chapter Nine 175

Chapter 9 On-going physical trauma in an infant observation Frances Thomson-Salo 177

Introduction to Chapter Ten 189

Chapter 10 The mother-observer relationship: an examination of the participant role of the observer in mother-infant observation Helga Coulter 191

Introduction to Chapter Eleven 201

Chapter 11 Maternal disavowal in the face of abuse of an infant by her sibling Anthony Cantle 203

Part V Developments of the Infant Observation Model

Introduction to developments of the infant observation model 221

Introduction to Chapter Twelve 229

Chapter 12 Multiple mothering in an Indian context Aiveen Bharucha 231

Introduction to Chapter Thirteen 249

Chapter 13 Representations of mother in the daughter of a single, gay father Sally Moskowitz 251

Introduction to Chapter Fourteen 265

Chapter 14 Struggling with cultural prejudice while observing babies: socio-centric and egocentric positions Grahum Music 267

Afterword 285

Selected Major Papers and Books 289

Index 293

Editorial Reviews

"Babies are designed to pull at our heart strings. So are our theories. This book traces the contribution of infant observation to adult and child psychoanalysis and psychotherapy, recurrently addressing the underpinning question – how to enter imaginatively into the dynamic experience of another, and thoughtfully engage with the impact of unconscious mental content, without either becoming overwhelmed by the powerful feelings aroused or retreating into our own theoretical safe ground to contain these. By setting infant observation within its historical context and tracing its expansion within different psychoanalytic schools of thought across continents, in socio-culturally, linguistically diverse, and increasingly non-traditional family constellations, this volume challenges our complacency."

Professor Joan Raphael-Leff

"This is a rich and enlightening book, both emotionally engaging and scholarly. It builds on previous writings on infant observation, and is superbly more than an edited book. Seminal papers are reproduced but Thomson-Salo’s introductions to each contain her own original thinking. Key points are connected with psychoanalytic and other writers. The reader feels deeply immersed in the experience of, and the thinking about, infant observation. Reading this book is transformative. The book is also challenging. There is a critique of the process; problematic and ethical issues are raised. Teachers and students of infant observation will be re-inspired, other professionals encouraged to take it on. A wider group working with mothers and babies, who do not have the opportunity to do a specific observation, may notice more about the emotions of their clients, and become more aware of and able to deal with the feelings stirred up by their work."

Dr Dilys Daws

"This is a rich and enlightening book, both emotionally engaging and scholarly. It builds on previous writings on infant observation, and is superbly more than an edited book. Seminal papers are reproduced but Thomson-Salo’s introductions to each contain her own original thinking. Key points are connected with psychoanalytic and other writers. The reader feels deeply immersed in the experience of, and the thinking about, infant observation. Reading this book is transformative. The book is also challenging. There is a critique of the process; problematic and ethical issues are raised. Teachers and students of infant observation will be re-inspired, other professionals encouraged to take it on. A wider group working with mothers and babies, who do not have the opportunity to do a specific observation, may notice more about the emotions of their clients, and become more aware of and able to deal with the feelings stirred up by their work."

"Babies are designed to pull at our heart strings. So are our theories. This book traces the contribution of infant observation to adult and child psychoanalysis and psychotherapy, recurrently addressing the underpinning question – how to enter imaginatively into the dynamic experience of another, and thoughtfully engage with the impact of unconscious mental content, without either becoming overwhelmed by the powerful feelings aroused or retreating into our own theoretical safe ground to contain these. By setting infant observation within its historical context and tracing its expansion within different psychoanalytic schools of thought across continents, in socio-culturally, linguistically diverse, and increasingly non-traditional family constellations, this volume challenges our complacency."

From the Publisher