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Concerning one or more examples from your reading on this module, critically assess the value of infant observation for psychoanalytic thought.
Introduction
Within this essay, I will be discussing the many reasons why infant observation is vital for psychoanalytic thought and psychoanalysts in general. Some of the points I will be discussing within the essay are, what exactly infant observation is, the idea of self-reflecting for training child psychoanalysts, and how psychoanalysis advances through infant observation.
What is infant observation?
In simple terms, infant observation is observing a child under the age of two. The more scientific way to describe what infant observation is would be ‘infant observation is the study of the earliest formation of the psyche (Rustin, 2006). Infant observation is seen as a fairly new concept within the world of psychoanalysis as it had only ‘been part of the training course for child psychotherapists at the Tavistock Clinic since 1948 (Bick, 1964). This means that the idea of observing infants has only been around in terms of psychoanalysis for less than 100 years. Then in 1960 infant observation was added to the curriculum within the Institute of Psychoanalysis, and this was added to the first year of the course (Bick, 1964).
The way that a training psychoanalyst would conduct a full infant observation is by observing ‘infants and their mothers or other caregivers, in natural settings, usually the home, conducted regularly, preferably for an hour each week for the first two years of an infant’s life (Rustin, 2006). During this visit, the person observing the family will be watching for many things. The main thing that they will be looking at during the observation is the ’emotional development of the infant in her family setting’ (Brown, 2007). They will also be looking at their movements, language skills, relationships with family and friends, and their eating habits. The structure in which the observation is conducted is very important for the overall outcome of the research that is being conducted. The reason that the observation is conducted at the same time each week is because ‘the method allows one to observe the evolution of particular behavior patterns or changes in how the same situations are handled over time’ (Urwin, 2007). Conducting the research over two years enables the observer to see if there are any patterns within the relationship between the mother and child. It can also show if there are any emotional difficulties for the mother or the child and try to establish a reason as to why this has happened. Esther Bick says in one of her journals ‘that paying attention to such observable details over a long period allows the student to see not only patterns but also changes in the patterns (Bick, 1964).
Some psychoanalysts conduct infant observations within a consulting room for clinical research but unfortunately, they will not get the same results that they would get from observing the infant within the home. The term clinical research is defined as the ‘accumulation of knowledge and understanding achieved by psychoanalysis in the consulting room (Rustin, 2006). The reason an observer will not get the same results within a consultation room is because naturally, a child is going to be more comfortable and consistent within its own home and familiar surroundings especially as they start to get older. Therefore, this method is predominantly used for older children rather than infants.
The observer and their research
The observer can come across some difficult challenges within their research and this could be for many different reasons. The first reason that I think it could be hard to be an observer is because of the bond that is created between the family and the observer. Spending such a long period with a particular family they are naturally going to create a bond and become attached, they are there every week for two years. They will see this baby progress from being a newborn to walking and talking. Those are very big stages within an infant’s life, and the family. The observer will also see the stress and emotions the family goes through as the infant progresses through the stages of development, alongside seeing all the happy times and excitement. It will be like the observer is another member of the family. Joanne Brown also says ‘It is sometimes argued that infant observations can become a source of explicit support for some mothers’ (Brown, 2007). This is because they are there on such a regular basis and as I previously mentioned they see so much within the family.
During the visits, the observer is there to watch and analyse how the infant is progressing through the first two years of their life, but they are also observing how the attachment with the family members, predominantly the mother has an impact on the infant. Therefore, it is valuable to be understanding of the mother and her struggles as well as her achievements. All of what the observer sees within the family home will enable the advancement of psychoanalytic research. Therefore, seeing the child’s relationship with the mother in the early stages and observing this closely could enable more understanding into why, once the infant becomes older, they struggle with certain emotional difficulties such as relationships and friendships. Michael Rustin describes how mothers who ‘prefer to hold their babies on their laps in a facing outwards mode, to holding their gaze or cuddling them with affection (Rustin, 2006) can put them at risk of developing conditions such as Autism. This is only one of the reasons why infant observation is critical to the advances of psychoanalytic thought. Michael Rustin makes a critical point when he says ‘one cannot so easily locate a discrete domain of the unconscious or the inner-worldly in observed infants as one can in child psychotherapy (Rustin, 2006). Therefore, the observer needs to make sure they keep a professional yet friendly relationship with the family because the advance of infant observation is critical to psychoanalytic thought. This is also because psychoanalysis is based on unconscious thoughts, and what infants do is predominantly unconscious thought. Another important reason that it could potentially be hard for the observer is that they could start to notice over time that there is some intergenerational trauma happening with the family. Doris Brothers says ‘Once established, they tend to coalesce into patterns of relating so inflexible and resistant to change that they profoundly affect parent-child interactions over generations’ (Brothers, 2013). Therefore, the observer constantly watching the family is crucial because they can pick up on these things. It can then also lead to advances within that area of study. It is ordinary practice for the observer to just be watching the entire hour that they are there, and this is because they don’t want to potentially miss something important with the infant whilst they are taking notes. Then once the observer leaves and they write up their report on the session they make sure to mention all details of the observation. This is even down to the way the infant breathes whilst they sleep. The reason for this is because every little thing an infant does is for an unconscious reason as that is their way of communicating without words.
For an observer who has spent multiple previous years studying the development of children and potentially psychoanalysis itself, it would be difficult for them not to make premature presumptions about the family or use theories to justify the infant’s behavior. Joanne Brown says, ‘the observation method discourages the premature use of theory, is it nevertheless underpinned by a particular theory of mind’. This is predominantly because other contributing factors can make the relationship difficult such as postnatal depression. Esther Bick says, ‘the depression in the mother and its impact on the observer as well as on the baby and other members of the family (Bick, 1964). The difficulty of making premature assumptions or theories regarding the family or infant is that naturally once you start to fixate on something those are the signs you will see the most. Whereas, if you keep an open mind and don’t try to fit a family into a certain theory or category you are more likely to make advances within the world of psychoanalysis. This could be because you either find out more concrete information about a current theory or potentially find out something that has not been established as an individual theory yet. This could then be crucial to the advances of psychoanalysis.
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