Engaging Infants: Embodied Communication in Short-Term Infant-Parent Therapy - Softcover

Thomson-Salo, Frances

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1782205918 ISBN 13: 9781782205913

Publisher: Routledge, 2017

Synopsis

The book begins by describing, within a psychodynamic approach, some traits an infant may bring to an intervention, followed by descriptions of interventions in several specialised perinatal settings. Several chapters focus on parent-infant families who have experienced considerable anxiety and depression, and those who have experienced trauma and lived borderline experiences or of mental illness. An innovative intervention which successfully engaged young parents and their infants so that most of them felt they could understand and relate to their newborn infant is next outlined. Turning to most parents of an infant in a neonatal intensive care unit who feel traumatised which may impact on the emotional relationship with their infants, there is often a need for psychodynamic exploration before these difficulties can be modulated. With such interventions the staff become more containing and may more likely seek an intervention for a premature infant in their own right, attuned to the meaning of his or her mood and behaviour. Infant-parent therapy in paediatric contexts, infants in groups, and relating to infant and parents in the context of family violence are briefly described.

About this title

About the Author

Frances Thomson-Salo

Review

"This book should be read by every professional who works with children and their families, and also, most particularly, by psychotherapists and psychoanalysts working with patients of any age. Engaging Infants reasserts the conviction that besides enhancing our capacity for observation, child analysis and the Bick infant observation method enrich our entire clinical practice. Drawing from her extensive experience in the field, Frances Thomson-Salo offers us a book on clinical practice with very young children in different contexts. Based on this experience, she suggests a form of therapeutic intervention with infants and their parents that can become a turning point in these children’s development." (Virginia Ungar, MD, President of the International Psychoanalytical Association 2017-11-10)

"In this inspiring book, Frances Thomson-Salo describes the pioneering work she has done in infant–parent psychotherapy, both individually and with her colleague Campbell Paul. Increasingly, around the world, the value of having the baby in the room is being recognised. Among the imaginative clinical paths this book offers, it takes us out of our comfort zone of talking to parents over the baby’s head. We may be used to noticing the baby’s reactions to what is talked about, but Thomson-Salo goes much further. She is courageous in showing how to address the baby directly, how to face the desperate emotions that some parents and their babies experience, and how a momentary meeting of minds can lead to change. This work can be transformational, and the detailed sensitive writing with clinical examples in this book is transformational for the reader. As you read it you will imagine yourself able to take on new levels of communication. You will never find yourself ignoring the baby again!" (Dilys Daws, PhD, Hon Consultant Child 2017-11-10)

"This is a unique and wonderful book. While grounded in sophisticated developmental science, Frances Thomson-Salo’s conceptual explanations and clinical guidelines are immediately understandable, and the vivid clinical examples bring them to life. It is rare that a book actually describes how clinical work with infants and parents is done, let alone with such clarity. I would recommend this book to all clinicians. It makes a substantial contribution to the emerging field of infant mental health." (Alexandra M. Harrison, MD, training and supervising analyst, Boston Psychoanalytic Society and Institute Assistant Professor in Psychiatry (part time) at Harvard Medical School 2017-10-11)

Edition details

• Publisher: Routledge
• Publication date: 2017
• ISBN 10: 1782205918
• ISBN 13: 9781782205913
• Binding: Paperback
• Language: English
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 252