This book is a collection of papers by clinicians united in their conviction about the importance of directly engaging and interacting with the baby in the presence of the parents whenever possible. This approach, which draws on the work of Winnicott, Trevarthen and Stern, honors the baby as subject. It re-presents the baby to the parents who may in that way see a new child, in turn shaping the infant’s implicit memories and reflective thinking. Recent neurobiological, attachment and developmental psychology models inform the work. The book describes the underpinning theoretical principles and the settings and forms of direct clinical practice, ranging from work with acutely ill babies, to more everyday interventions in crying, feeding and sleeping difficulties, as well as infant-parent psychotherapy. Clinicians at The Royal Children's Hospital Melbourne from the disciplines of psychiatry, psychoanalysis, psychology, nursing, speech pathology, child psychotherapy, pediatrics, and music therapy describe their work with ill and suffering babies and their families. Other contributors are community-based clinicians who have completed the University of Melbourne Graduate Diploma of Infant Mental Health. Reviews and Endorsements: "This book brings the reader even closer to the baby’s experience through the imaginative work of these Australian clinicians, in the way that they have built their interventions around the individual “baby as subject in the presence of the parents”. Coming from this perspective, the editors and authors deeply enrich the multidisciplinary field of infant mental health and the discipline of parent–infant psychotherapy." - Tessa Baradon, manager and lead clinician of the Anna Freud Centre Parent Infant Project, London, and Visiting Professor, School of Human and Community Development , University of the Witwatersrand, South Africa "This collaborative, thought-provoking collection by leading professionals from a range of disciplines is a gratifying work of substantial scholarship and clinical richness. With its singular emphasis on the importance upon understanding the experience of the baby in the parent–infant relationship, Campbell Paul and Frances Thomson-Salo have provided us with a compelling book, which should become an indispensable resource for professionals working with infants and their families everywhere. This thoughtful and humane volume is a remarkable addition to the field of infant and child mental health. A timely and invaluable book." - Professor J. Kevin Nugent, Director, the Brazelton Institute , Boston Children’s Hospital and Harvard Medical School "The spirit of Donald Winnicott has travelled to Australia and inspired a large team of infant mental health professionals to create a stimulating book of their learning and achievement, both practical and theoretical. This volume should appeal to all professionals who aspire to help troubled parent–infant relationships become 'good enough'." - Dr Juliet Hopkins, Honorary Consultant Child Psychotherapist , Tavistock Clinic, London "This volume captures an approach to infant–parent therapeutic intervention where the experience of the infant is central. The infant is seen as a communicating subject with a unique perspective and capacity to engage and use the therapies described. A variety of case examples are used to powerfully illustrate the importance of direct work with the infant and the therapist’s role in understanding the inner world of the infant." - Professor Louise Newman AM, Professor of Developmental Psychiatry, Director, Center for Developmental Psychiatry and Psychology , Monash University, Australia Table of Contents: ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ABOUT THE EDITORS AND CONTRIBUTORS INTRODUCTION: Campbell Paul and Frances Thomson-Salo CHAPTER ONE: What I am trying to do when I see an infant with his or her parents, Ann Morgan CHAPTER TWO: Engaging with the baby as a person: early intervention with parents and infants, Frances Thomson-Salo PART I: INTERVENTIONS IN ACUTE HEALTH SETTINGS CHAPTER THREE: The sick baby in hospital, Campbell Paul CHAPTER FOUR: Perceptions of parents of tube fed babies: a preliminary analysis, Libby Ferguson and Campbell Paul CHAPTER FIVE: Contingent singing as a therapeutic intervention for the hospitalised full-term neonate, Helen Shoemark CHAPTER SIX: Two children in acute wards, Sue Morse CHAPTER SEVEN: Working in twilight: infant mental health interventions with babies who may die, Megan P. Chapman and Campbell Paul CHAPTER EIGHT: Infants dependent on technology at home: enabling the staff, Sarah Jones and Robyn Hayles PART II: INTERVENTIONS IN CRYING, FEEDING, AND SETTLING DIFFICULTIES CHAPTER NINE: Reflux and irritability, Brigid Jordan CHAPTER TEN: Ooey gooey group: a behavioural interactive group for parents and young children with feeding problems, Libby Ferguson and Sue Morse CHAPTER ELEVEN: In the nurse’s consulting room, Michele Meehan PART III: INFANT–PARENT THERAPY CHAPTER TWELVE: Talking with infants, Robin Wilson CHAPTER THIRTEEN: When twins present: creating space to be seen, Teresa Russo CHAPTER FOURTEEN: Play dough, pooh, and general practice: communications of a two-year-old child, Teresa Russo CHAPTER FIFTEEN: Tom’s perfect world, Julie Stone CHAPTER SIXTEEN: Babies in groups: the creative roles of the babies, the mothers, and the therapists, Campbell Paul and Frances Thomson-Salo PART IV: INTERVENTIONS WITH INFANTS WITH PROBLEMS OF RELATING CHAPTER SEVENTEEN: Infant–parent psychotherapy in a community paediatric setting, Mary Brown CHAPTER EIGHTEEN: The gift of connection: intervention with a two-year-old boy, Nicky Robson CHAPTER NINETEEN: Attachment to one, two, or to group: an infant mental health intervention with an Indian family in transition, Sarah Jones and Sue Morse CHAPTER TWENTY: Feeding, the self, and working through the infant’s pathological defences: the seriousness of playfulness, Campbell Paul PART V: INTERVENTIONS WITH INFANTS EXPOSED TO FAMILY VIOLENCE CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE: Infancy and domestic violence: an annotation, Brigid Jordan CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO: Working with a sick baby born of a rape, Campbell Paul CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE: Sara: psychotherapy with a mother–infant dyad with a background of violence, Dimitra Bekos PART VI: REFERENCE PAPERS CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR: Some principles of infant–parent psychotherapy, Frances Thomson-Salo and Campbell Paul CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE: The infant who looks but does not see, Campbell Paul EPILOGUE: The spare room: a father confronts his fatherhood, Joanna Murray Smith INDEX The Editors: Campbell Paul is a Consultant Infant and Child Psychiatrist at The Royal Children’s Hospital, Melbourne and Honorary Principal Fellow in the Department of Psychiatry at the University of Melbourne. At the University he and colleagues established a Graduate Diploma and a Masters Course in Infant and Parent Mental Health. This course developed out of his longstanding experience in paediatric consultation liaison psychiatry and work in infant parent psychotherapy. He has a special interest in the understanding of the inner world of the baby, particularly as it informs therapeutic work with infants and their parents. With colleagues he has developed models of working in therapeutic groups with troubled parents and infants. He has been a consultant psychiatrist at the Victorian Aboriginal Health Service has also been involved in the establishment of the Koori Kids Mental Health Network. He has worked with NT child mental health services in Central Australia. He is also a member of the Board of Directors of the World Association for Infant Mental Health and has been a participant in and organizer of a number of local and international conferences and activities in the field of infant mental health. 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. This book is a collection of papers by clinicians united in their conviction about the importance of directly engaging and interacting with the baby in the presence of the parents whenever possible. This approach, which draws on the work of Winnicott, Trevarthen and Stern honours the baby as subject. It re-presents the baby to the parents who may in that way see a new child, in turn shaping the infant’s implicit memories and reflective thinking. Recent neurobiological, attachment and developmental psychology models inform the work. The book describes the underpinning theoretical principles and the settings and forms of direct clinical practice , ranging from work with acutely ill babies, to more everyday interventions in crying, feeding and sleeping difficulties, as well as infant-parent psychotherapy. Clinicians at The Royal Children's Hospital Melbourne from the disciplines of psychiatry, psychoanalysis, psychology, nursing, speech pathology, child psychotherapy, paediatrics, and music therapy describe their work with ill and suffering babies and their families. Other contributors are community-based clinicians who have completed the University of Melbourne Graduate Diploma of Infant Mental Health. About the Editors: Frances Thomson Salo is an Honorary Principal Fellow of the Department of Psychiatry, University of Melbourne, and a Member of the British Psychoanalytical Society and immediate past President of the Australian Psychoanalytical Association. She is Chair of COWAP and a member of the Board of the International Journal of Psychoanalysis. She is an Honorary Fellow of the Murdoch Children's Research Institute; the Consultant Infant Mental Health clinician, Royal Women's Hospital Centre, Melbourne; and is on the teaching faculty for the University of Melbourne Graduate Diploma/Masters in Infant and Parent Mental Health. She is the Psychoanalyst-in-residence for The Dax Centre of artworks and has published in the fields of child psychoanalysis and infant mental health. |