page_title: Psychoanalytic infant observation
section_title: Rationale for the method
hierarchical_section_title: Psychoanalytic infant observation / Rationale for the method
caption_attribution_description: baby while making his first steps
context_page_description: Psychoanalytic infant observation is a distinct empirical case study method in psychoanalytic and psychotherapy training which was developed at the Tavistock Clinic in London by child psychoanalyst Esther Bick. In 1948 she collaborated with Dr John Bowlby to develop the approach as part of psychotherapy training. It has since become an essential feature of pre-clinical training in child and adult psychotherapy, psychoanalysis and related fields throughout the Western world.
  Psychoanalytic infant observation usually involves observing an infant and mother weekly over a two-year period beginning soon after birth until the child's second birthday. This naturalistic form of experiential enquiry provides a unique opportunity to sharpen and extend the observational skills of future therapists. Trainees learn first-hand how a relationship develops between babies and their family members and enables them to think about how babies grow physically, mentally and emotionally. The experience of observing family life is invaluable for professionals who later work with complex and disturbing presentations.
context_section_description: Infant Observation was the inspired initiative of Esther Bick. As a Child Psychoanalyst she pioneered this particular approach to studying babies in the midst of their family environment. In 1948, she began teaching at the Tavistock Clinic and in collaboration with Dr John Bowlby she started the practice of observation as an integral part of psychotherapy training. This involved finding families about to welcome a newborn and gaining their consent to freely participate in the two-year project. It consisted in visiting a family to observe their infant from birth to two years. These weekly observations in the natural environment of the baby’s home offered a vivid learning experience of child development. Observers came to appreciate the mutual influence of the developing relationship between mother and baby, father and siblings (if any). Importantly, the observer was also invited to consider the feelings aroused in themselves during the observation and how their presence in the home could be influencing events.
  Esther Bick’s 1964 paper ‘Notes on infant observation in psycho-analytic training’ set out the model of infant observation and her view of how much can be learned from it — how to observe, the nature of early infantile anxiety, especially the baby’s apparent fear of ‘falling to bits’, the impact of maternal anxiety and postnatal depression, and the significance of good observational capacities for future child analysts. She emphasized the gathering of data over time, the need to wait for meaning to emerge, and the observer’s responsibility to respect their role as learner and to behave with tact and reliability. 
  Bick’s ideas took shape at the same time as Wilfred Bion’s work on ‘A theory of thinking’ and these two explorations of the emotional and cognitive dimensions of the early mother-child relationship are profoundly complementary. Both build on the work of Melanie Klein and her pioneering analysis of children.
caption: Toddler and parent: learning to walk
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