This article reports on a consultation project with the early childhood staff at Little Sisters of the Assumption (LSA) Health Center in East Harlem, New York City. LSA serves immigrant families, especially Mexican mothers and toddlers, currently unable to return to Mexico to visit those left behind, i.e., children, parents, etc. Because of their status, they cannot return to the United States if they leave.

The project had a dual purpose: to heighten staff members's observational skills and their ability to elicit accurate developmental information, so that they could use psychodynamic principles to design interventions that increase mother's reflective functioning in relation to her child. With mother being more mindful, most of the children were able to resume age-appropriate development. Once capable of sensitively observing these families, the staff's ability to conceptualize the mother–child dynamic markedly improved. Mothers, toddlers, and staff members benefited.