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I was attracted by the double title of this volume: Parent-Infant Psychodynamics appealing to my adult professional self, and Wild Things, Mirrors and Ghosts, holding out the additional promise of something imaginative, with its allusion to Maurice Sendak's nursery classic, Where the Wild Things Are. I was not disappointed.
This volume sets out to explore both the interpsychic and intrapsychic impact of pregnancy, birth and early parenting, and is organized in four sections, each containing papers by distinguished contributors from the fields of research psychology, psychoanalysis, paediatrics, child therapy, social work and related disciplines. Many of these authors are writing from their own recent practice and research while others, such as Winnicott and Bion, are eminent psychoanalytic ancestors. The sections follow from ‘Face to Face: Containment and Early Exchange’ through ‘Unprocessed Residues’ and ‘Representations and Reality’ to ‘Management Issues’. These are held and linked together by the editor, Joan Raphael-Leff, who wears her formidable learning and clinical experience lightly and her own paper and introductions to each section give a sense of purpose, shape and depth to this rich selection.