Elisabeth Fivaz-Depeursinge is a former professor of clinical ethology at the University of Lausanne School of Medicine, where she was president of the Centre for Family Studies and head of its research department. She was a practicing child analyst and family therapist before moving into clinical research. Diane A. Philipp is an assistant professor in the Department of Psychiatry at the University of Toronto Medical School and a member of the faculty at the Hincks-Dellcrest Centre, where she is part of the infant and preschool assessment and treatment team.
'This extraordinary, groundbreaking book by Fivaz and Philipp updates and expands the seminal studies of The Primary Triangle, published in 1999. Through fascinating detailed illustrations of volunteer and clinical families, following several of them for at least 5 years, they document the impact on the baby of different styles of co-parenting. Writing in a nonpathologizing, engaging tone, their description of the research brings the babies and their parents to life. This book serves as an invaluable aid to clinicians working with children and families, but also for those working with adult patients. Awareness of the impact subtle family patterns, offers clinicians and their patients a broader and more balanced view of their developmental experience.' - Frank M. Lachmann, Ph.D., Founding Faculty, Institute for the Psychoanalytic Study of Subjectivity. 'The authors of this book reaffirm the capacity for triangular communication between infants and parents established by their previous research. They move on then to describe a range of interactive patterns, drawn both from families that are progressing well and families where the patterns are problematic. The authors use detailed case examples to bring realistic images of young families, as we see them at home and in shopping malls; so relevant for understanding that development and change occur in the context of interactive systems, rather than purely within the individual. This book alerts and guides clinicians to innovative opportunities in assessment and intervention during the early stages of family development and should be widely read and applied.' - Salvador Minuchin, MD; Family Therapist, Author and Former Director, Philadelphia Child Guidance Clinic and Patricia Minuchin, PhD; Developmental Psychologist and Professor (ret.), Temple University