Psychoanalytic infant observation
Psychoanalytic infant observation is a distinctive ex-
periential approach to training that was developed at the
Tavistock Clinic[1] in London by Child psychoanalyst
Esther Bick.[2] In 1948 she collaborated with Dr John
Bowlby to develop the approach to training psychother-
apy students in conducting an infant observation. It has
since become an essential feature of pre-clinical training
in child and adult psychotherapy, psychoanalysis and re-
lated elds[3] throughout the world.[4]
The practice of psychoanalytic infant observation usu-
ally involves a weekly observation over a two year pe-
riod of an infant from soon after birth and until their
second birthday. This naturalistic form of enquiry pro-
vides a unique opportunity to enrich and extend observa-
tion skills.[5] Students learn at rst-hand how a relation-
ship begins between babies and their families and enables
them think about how babies grow physically, mentally
and emotionally. This experience of observing ordinary
family life is valuable for professionals who work with
dicult, complex and disturbing presentations.[6]
1 Early Development
Psychoanalytic Infant Observation is a distinctive ap-
proach that was the inspired initiative of Esther Bick.[7]
As a Child Psychoanalyst she pioneered a particular
technique of studying babies in the ordinary life of
their family environment. In 1948, she began teach-
ing at the Tavistock Clinic and in collaboration with Dr
John Bowlby she initiated the method of psychotherapy
trainees conducting an infant observation. This involved
visiting a family to observe their infant from birth to two
years. These weekly observations in the natural environ-
ment of the babys home oered a very vivid learning
experience of development. The observers came to ap-
preciate the mutual inuence of the developing relation-
ship between mother and baby, and father and siblings.
Importantly, the observer also considered how the feel-
ings aroused in them during the observation and how their
presence inuenced events.[8]
Esther Bicks 1964 paper Notes on infant observation in
psycho-analytic training[9] set out the model of infant ob-
servation and her view of how much can be learned from
it how to observe, the nature of early infantile anxiety,
especially the babys fear of falling to bits, the impact
of maternal anxiety and postnatal depression, and the sig-
nicance of good observational capacities for future child
analysts. She emphasized the gathering of data over time,
1
the need to wait for meaning to emerge, and the observers
responsibility to respect their role as learner and to behave
with tact and reliability.
Bicks ideas took shape at the same time as Wilfred Bions
work on A theory of thinking,[10] and these two explo-
rations of the emotional and cognitive dimensions of the
early mother-child relationship are profoundly comple-
mentary. Both build on the work of Melanie Klein and
her pioneering analysis of children.
2 Later Development
Over the last fty years courses for professionals working
with children and families have made increasing use of
infant and child observation as a central aspect of train-
ing. It has proved very valuable in increasing professional
skills and in sensitising workers to the range of anxieties,
diculties and creative possibilities in each family.[11]
From 1960 to 1980 Martha Harris was head of the Child
Psychotherapy[12] service at the Tavistock Clinic. She
was responsible for the expansion in the number of En-
glish and international trainees at the Tavistock and for
developing the training into what became known as the
Tavistock Model.[13] This model, in which infant obser-
vation continues to play a pre-eminent role, has been
adopted with modications across the UK and interna-
tionally: for example, GERPEN in France[14] and the
Martha Harris Study Centres in Italy.[15]
Beginning in the 1980s, and initially supported by vis-
iting sta from the Tavistock Clinic, courses in infant
observation were developed to support the training of a
wide range of professionals across the UK and worldwide.
Over time other components and seminars were added
to develop a comprehensive programme leading to post-
graduate qualication. The post-graduate programme
known as Psychoanalytic Observational Studies[16] that
is run under the auspices of the Tavistock Clinic is cur-
rently delivered in the UK in Belfast, Birmingham, Bris-
tol, Devon, Oxford and Liverpool and in Italy in Florence,
Genoa and Milan. In the UK equivalent post-graduate
programmes exist at the Anna Freud Centre and British
Psychotherapy Foundation[17] in London, the Northern
School of Child and Adolescent Psychotherapy with Uni-
versity of Leeds in Leeds,[18] University of Northum-
bria in Newcastle[19] and Human Development Scotland
with University of Strathclyde in Glasgow.[20] In the US
the programs are run at the Washington School of Psy-
2 6 BIBLIOGRAPHY
chiatry Washington[21] DC since 2004 and at Columbia
University.[22]
3 The Process of Observation
Psychoanalytic infant observation[23] usually involves a
weekly observation over a two year period of an infant
soon after birth and until their second birthday. Students
normally undertake the observation in the home setting
for one hour per week. Students are responsible for nd-
ing a baby to observe under the guidance of their tutor.
New observers attend seminars to discuss the practical-
ities of setting up an observation and to learn about the
process of nding a baby.
Every observation is written down in detail as soon after
the observation as possible. This can often take about an
hour to complete. Students discuss their observations in
small group seminars which take place on a weekly basis
over two academic years. Each student has the opportu-
nity to present their detailed observations to the groups.
The presentations are anonymised and no identifying fea-
tures are used.
The unique experience of psychoanalytic observation al-
lows the student to observe a mother and baby, living
through and resolving routine and dicult situations in
their own ways. With the help of the seminar, the ob-
server learns to process the inclination for judgmental
and blaming thoughts which arise when anxiety is stirred.
Along with developing sensitivity and precision in obser-
vation, the course teaches how to think freshly and induc-
tively from observation, including trying to understand
how the developing infant is making sense of his world.
4 Young Child and Brief Observa-
tions
Some courses and trainings, including those at the
Tavistock Clinic, The Birmingham Trust for Psychoana-
lytic Psychotherapy[24] and the Northern School of Child
and Adolescent Psychotherapy[25] also oer the chance to
undertake an observation of a pre-school child (approxi-
mately two to four years old) in their family or in a nursery
setting for an hour a week for one academic year. This of-
fers an additional understanding of development through
the experience of observation as the child starts to com-
municate verbally and non-verbally with other children
and with adults outside the immediate family and takes a
range of steps towards the world outside the family.
Several courses provide the opportunity to undertake a
brief infant or young child observation as a less intensive
but still valuable training experience. See for example
Infant Mental Health and Early Intervention with Under
Threes and their Parents.[26]
5 Infant Observation: Interna-
tional Journal of Infant Observa-
tion and Its Applications
Infant Observation[27] is published by Taylor and Fran-
cis and the current Editor is Trudy Klauber. The interna-
tional journal publishes the best of the varied and original
writing emerging from this eld. It comprises case studies
on infant and young child observation, research papers,
and articles focusing on wider applications of the psy-
choanalytic observational method, including its relevance
to reective professional practice in elds such as social
work, teaching and nursing. Papers are peer-reviewed.
There is a developing body of research knowledge that
draws upon the infant observation approach[28]
6 Bibliography
Bick, Esther. (1964) Notes on infant observation
in psycho-analytic training. Reprinted in Collected
Papers of Martha Harris and Esther Bick. Clunie
Press, 1987.
Harris, Martha. (1976). The contribution of obser-
vation of mother-infant interaction and development
to the equipment of a psychoanalyst Reprinted in
M. H. Williams (ed.) (2011), pp. 117132.
Harris, Martha. (1977) The Tavistock training and
philosophy. Reprinted in The Tavistock Model:
Papers on Child Development and Psychoanalytic
Training by Martha Harris and Esther Bick, ed.
M. H. Williams (London: Harris Meltzer Trust/
Karnac, 2011), pp. 124.
Reid, Susan. (Ed.) (1997) Developments in Infant
Observation: The Tavistock Model. Hove: Rout-
ledge
Rustin, Margaret. (2009). 'Esther Bicks legacy of
infant observation at the Tavistock some reec-
tions 60 years on',Infant Observation: International
Journal of Infant Observation and Its Applications,
12(1), p. 32.
Rustin, Michael. (2006). Infant observation re-
search: What have we learned so far? Infant Obser-
vation: International Journal of Infant Observation
and Its Applications, 9 (1), pp. 3552.
Sternberg, Janine. (2005). Infant Observation at the
Heart of Training. London: Karnac.
Waddell, Margot. (2013). Infant observation in
Britain: a Tavistock approach. Infant Observation:
International Journal of Infant Observation and Its
Applications, 16(1), pp. 422.

7 External links
Videos of NSCAP students talking about the expe-
rience of undertaking Psychoanalytic Infant Obser-
vation
Tavistock Clinic
International Journal of Infant Observation and Its
Applications
Esther Bick
British Psychotherapy Foundation
Birmingham Trust for Psychoanalytic Psychother-
apy
Northern School of Child and Adolescent Psy-
chotherapy
Human Development Scotland
Anna Freud Centre
Association of Child Psychotherapists
Washington School of Psychiatry
8 References
[1] http://www.tavistockandportman.nhs.uk/
[2] Waddell, Margot. (2013). Infant observation in Britain:
a Tavistock approach. Infant Observation: International
Journal of Infant Observation and Its Applications, 16(1),
pp. 4-22. DOI: 10.1080/13698036.2013.765659
[3] Sternberg, Janine. (2005). Infant Observation at the Heart
of Training. London: Karnac.
[4] Infant Observation: International Journal of Infant Obser-
vation and Its Applications. http://www.tandfonline.com/
action/journalInformation?journalCode=riob20
[5] Reid, Susan (Ed.) (1997) Developments in Infant Obser-
vation: The Tavistock Model. Hove: Routledge
[6] Sternberg, Janine (2005). Infant Observation at the Heart
of Training. London: Karnac.
[7] http://www.melanie-klein-trust.org.uk/bick
[8] Rustin, Margaret. (2009) 'Esther Bicks legacy of infant
observation at the Tavistock some reections 60 years
on', Infant Observation, 12(1), p. 32;
[9] Bick, Esther. (1964) Notes on infant observation in
psycho-analytic training. Reprinted in Collected Papers
of Martha Harris and Esther Bick. Clunie Press, 1987.
[10] Bion, Wilfred R. (1962). A theory of thinking, Interna-
tional Journal of Psycho-Analysis, vol. 43: Reprinted in
Second Thoughts (1967).
3
[11] Reid, Susan (Ed.) (1997) Developments in Infant Obser-
vation: The Tavistock Model. Hove: Routledge
[12] http://www.childpsychotherapy.org.uk/
[13] Hoxter, Shirley. review of Collected Papers of Martha
Harris and Esther Bick, Journal of Child Psychotherapy,
14a: 101106 (1988);
[14] http://www.gerpen.org/
[15] http://www.centrostudimarthaharris.org/
[16] http://www.tavistockandportman.nhs.uk/training/
courses/psychoanalytic-observational-studies-m7
[17] http://www.britishpsychotherapyfoundation.org.uk/
[18] http://www.nscap.org.uk
[19] https://www.northumbria.ac.uk/
study-at-northumbria/courses/
psychoanalytical-observational-studies-ma-pt-dtppob6/
[20] http://www.hdscotland.org.uk/
[21] http://www.wspdc.org/education/observational-studies/
[22] http://www.psychoanalysis.columbia.
edu/train/psychotherapy-programs/
parent-infant-psychotherapy-program/
infant-observation
[23] Description based on information from http://www.
tavistockandportman.nhs.uk/ , www.nscap.org.uk
[24] http://www.btpp.co.uk/preclinical/overview.php
[25] http://www.nscap.org.uk
[26] http://www.nscap.org.uk/content/
infant-mental-health-and-early-intervention
[27] Infant Observation: International Journal of Infant Obser-
vation and Its Applications. http://www.tandfonline.com/
action/journalInformation?journalCode=riob20
[28] Rustin, Michael. (2006). Infant observation research:
What have we learned so far? Infant Observation: Inter-
national Journal of Infant Observation and Its Applica-
tions, 9 (1), pp. 35-52.
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