Innovations in Parent-Infant Psychotherapy

This book has emerged from the editors excitement about the proliferation of parent-infant psychotherapy work around the world. This collection, in its innovative way, develops the psychoanalytic model of working with parents, infants, and small children. It brings together papers from around the world and is written by experienced clinicians, who have a psychodynamic framework and all of whom believe in the importance of early emotional experiences in the development of the personality within the context of family relationships. The vivid detail of the clinical vignettes brings to life intimate stories of the therapeutic process, either from the consulting room of those in private practice, or in the public sector including projects in community settings where traditional psychoanalytic ideas are applied flexibly. The case histories span individual work with various combinations: mothers alone, mothers and babies with or without fathers, families, and mother and baby groups.