Foundations of Psychoanalytic Practice
We are pleased to offer a new a one-year course on Infant Observation beginning on October 1, 2013.
This stand-alone course is suitable for students from a wide variety of backgrounds, including practicing clinicians from all disciplines, recent graduates of Masters-level or Doctoral-level programs, professionals considering changing careers, and anyone interested in exploring the possibility of post-graduate psychoanalytic training.
Applicants to our Psychoanalysis Training Programs are also welcome to enroll. Those who take Infant Observation and are subsequently admitted to the Child and Adolescent Psychoanalysis Program will receive credit for the required infant observation component of the curriculum.
New One-Year Course: Infant Observation
Begins Tuesday, October 1, 2013 7:30–9:00pm. Meets weekly, October–May
Manhattan location
Students who attend this course will gain direct experiential understanding of the origins of emotional, mental and relational life through the observation of an infant and his or her caregiver. This course helps students become receptive observers, a vital skill in psychoanalytic work.
Esther Bick developed this method of infant observation, which is both objective and rooted in emotional experience. First begun in 1948 at the Tavistock Clinic in London, some experience of infant observation has become a part of most British training in child therapy and psychoanalysis. In 1997, the Anni Bergman Parent Infant Training Program instituted a course of study that included an infant observation course based on the Tavistock model and, more loosely, on the research protocol developed by Mahler and her associates. This course is being offered in collaboration with the Anni Bergman Parent Infant Training Program.
With the help of the instructor and support of the class, each student locates an infant. The family is asked to commit to a year-long observation. The observer then visits the family for an hour every week, usually at the same time. Maintaining a background stance of friendly attentiveness, the observer takes in whatever is happening in the ordinary life of a baby and his or her caregiver(s). Notes jotted down as soon as possible after the observation, and fleshed out later, are presented on a rotating basis. In depth class discussions allow students to more fully comprehend what they are observing, and the sometimes powerful feelings evoked by the experience.
Instructed to proceed as they would normally, families soon adapt to the presence of a regular visitor who is interested in them and their baby. Although the observer does not offer advice or comments, the observer’s presence and containing stance are usually experienced as friendly and supportive in ways that have a positive effect on the caregiver and the infant.
The fee for this 30 session course is $1,050. There is a $100 non-refundable deposit to hold your place, with the balance of $950 to be paid in full by July 15th.
For further information and to register, please contact: Gloria Demby, LCSW (718-797-3260)