This second edition of the book was released after Jeremy Nahum's death and it is dedicated to the memory of three pioneers of the dialogue between psychoanalysis and infant research: Daniel Stern, Berry Brazelton and Jeremy Nahum. The book has the difficult task to cover an interdisciplinary area in which psychoanalysis has to deal with infant research. The development of infant research methodologies is illustrated in the present book by the contribution written by Beatrice Beebe, whose 'journey' leads us through the 'creating' of a discipline with its creators, her traveling companions, such as Daniel Stern, Frank Lachmann, Joseph Jaffe and many others. Trevarthen's chapter is a discussion of his work with T. Berry Brazelton. Tronick's contribution focuses on mother-infant dyad as well as on analyst-patient one, conceived as open dynamic systems, capable of meaning making, in which coherence is at best imperfect, and coordination alternates with mismatching. Lyons-Ruth and colleagues' chapter is focused on the representational world of the mother, particularly on the assessment of mother's representation of role-confusion in her relation with her child. The authors call attention to the dimension of sexualisation in the relationship, a high indicator of role-confusion. The findings can inform and enrich counselling and psychology practice by familiarizing clinicians with how to listen for indicators of role-confusion while talking with parents about their relationship with the child. |
