Infant observation and the receptive mind
Infant observation and the receptive mind
复制标题
婴儿的观察力和接受性思维
DOI:
10.1080/13698036.2010.487992
复制
发表时间:
2010
影响因子:
--
通讯作者:
D. Houzel
中科院分区:
文献类型:
--
作者:
D. Houzel
Abstract The extraordinarily productive method of infant observation we have inherited from Esther Bick is a rich source of learning for all those who practise it. In this paper, I insist more particularly on the development of receptivity in the observer's mind. I illustrate this particular feature both in my work of supervising observers and in the preventive and therapeutic applications of infant observation. Through the meticulousness of the method and the supervision group, observers gradually learn how to liberate their own capacity for receptivity. They let themselves absorb that which is conveyed to them much more smoothly through various more or less primitive means of communication. The infant's projections have to be transformed in the adult carer's mind in order for meaning to emerge. The containing function, in Bion's sense of the term, possesses these two elements: message reception and transformation. It is this internal capacity for mindful and containing receptivity that infant observation trains in the observer. This has also been proven to be a valuable function to be harnessed therapeutically in the service of promoting infant mental health.