Intimate Transformations: Babies With Their Families - Paperback

This inspiring volume highlights the importance of infant observation in psychotherapy training, as well as its benefits for the observer's personal growth. Following Esther Bick's infant observation model, the authors show how observing babies can contribute greatly to understanding the relationship between the baby and his parents, as well as the relationship between the parents, and the general mental well-being of the immediate family. Inspiring case studies accompany the theory and readers get immersed in these vignettes as they discuss observing premature babies, healthy babies, babies with troubled parents, and sibling rivalry. The papers discuss the crucial element of mother-baby dialogue and how this special relationship is manifested through movements, gestures, and vocalizations. The need for continuity in primal relationships at the early stages of life is acknowledged and its contribution to emotional and mental health later in life is celebrated in this volume.