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Daniel Stern now has a considerable reputation as a writer and researcher who is able to bring together his own research, and work by different authors from different disciplines, notably developmental psychology
and psychoanalysis. This book is an academic book, in contrast to some of his recent work written for a lay audience, and covers a broad spectrum of ideas. He is interested in psychotherapy in general, and in work with mothers and infants in particular. He has been able to draw together workers in the field, who have diverse perspectives and views, to undertake original research together. But one of the frustrations of the book, for this reader at least, was the lack of detail of the work done together, which sounds as if it must have been fascinating. Generally there is a lack of clinical detail through the book. It was not possible for me to get a picture of Stern at work, although there were many ideas to consider and explore.
The motherhood constellation is defined as the new and unique psychic organization a woman enters into at the birth of a baby, of unspecified duration, months or years. John Byng-Hall has suggested extending the concept into a consideration of parenthood constellation. Stern mentions fathers rather briefly, and links their role very concretely to the child care they take on. Stern argues that the motherhood constellation is a state of mind which takes over from the usual preoccupations and concerns of the mother. He contrasts it with the Oedipal complex, and writes about the implications of terms such as ‘complex’. He wishes to use the term constellation to avoid the implications of psycho-pathology, which he feels are implied by the notion of a complex. As always with such examination of concepts, there are many assumptions behind the words used.
Stern uses concepts developed in his earlier works, notably The Interpersonal World of the Infant (1985), but he has developed and refined his ideas. He now writes of ‘schemas-of-being-wi