Infant Observation—Why Studying Attachment from Birth Helps to Prepare us for Working Clinically with Adults

Why should infant observation be included on counselling and psychotherapy trainings? I would like to describe briefly what an infant observation entails, and then answer this question by exploring the significant ways in which the experience of observing an infant impacts positively on how we develop our skills in working clinically with adults. Currently it is standard practice for students on psychoanalytic trainings to observe infants from birth to eighteen or twenty-four months, and this period of development is important for three principle reasons: it is when early and crucial patterns of attachment between mother and infant are being formed; when the origins of a sense of self and other are developing; and when the beginnings of language are forming. Most clients, in my experience, come to us with insecure patterns of attachment, which are causing them difficulties with relating intimately, and with a shaky sense of themselves which is impacting on their sense of agency in the world. Many clients struggle to communicate well or to think symbolically and our capacity to understand and to explore the links between early experience and current difficulties in these three areas can be key.

I would like to describe, and then focus on, three important aspects of an infant observation to demonstrate their relevance to adult work.

The first part is finding a pregnant mother to observe and setting up an antenatal interview. This is important because it allows the student to address both the practicalities and to explore the parental anxieties, fantasies, and expectations. Students are expected to make a judgement about the “fit” between them and the family and to begin building a safe and non-intrusive professional relationship.

This process fosters an exploration of how students will feel about finding future clients, setting up a practice, coming to an agreement about the frame of the psychotherapy, and developing skills in assessing the “fit” between them and their