Engaging Infants

In this inspiring book, Frances Thomson-Salo describes the pioneering work she has done in infant-parent psychotherapy, both individually and with her colleague Campbell Paul. Increasingly, around the world, the value of having the baby in the room is being recognised. Among the imaginative clinical paths this book offers, it takes us out of our comfort zone of talking to parents over the baby's head. We may be used to noticing the baby's reactions to what is talked about, but Thomson-Salo goes much further. She is courageous in showing how to address the baby directly, how to face the desperate emotions that some parents and their babies experience, and how a momentary meeting of minds can lead to change. This work can be transformational, and the detailed sensitive writing with clinical examples in this book is transformational for the reader. As you read it you will imagine yourself able to take on new levels of communication. You will never find yourself ignoring the baby again! --Dilys Daws, PhD, Hon Consultant Child This is a unique and wonderful book. While grounded in sophisticated developmental science, Frances Thomson-Salo's conceptual explanations and clinical guidelines are immediately understandable, and the vivid clinical examples bring them to life. It is rare that a book actually describes how clinical work with infants and parents is done, let alone with such clarity. I would recommend this book to all clinicians. It makes a substantial contribution to the emerging field of infant mental health. --Alexandra M. Harrison, MD, training and supervising analyst, Boston Psychoanalytic Society and Institute Assistant Professor in Psychiatry (part time) at Harvard Medical School This book should be read by every professional who works with children and their families, and also, most particularly, by psychotherapists and psychoanalysts working with patients of any age. Engaging Infants reasserts the conviction that besides enhancing our capacity for observation, child analysis and the Bick infant observation method enrich our entire clinical practice. Drawing from her extensive experience in the field, Frances Thomson-Salo offers us a book on clinical practice with very young children in different contexts. Based on this experience, she suggests a form of therapeutic intervention with infants and their parents that can become a turning point in these children's development. --Virginia Ungar, MD, President of the International Psychoanalytical Association