Baby as Subject

<p>This book is a collection of papers by clinicians united in their conviction about the importance of directly engaging and interacting with the baby in the presence of the parents whenever possible. This approach which draws on the work of Winnicott Trevarthen and Stern honours the baby as subject. It re-presents the baby to the parents who may in that way see a new child in turn shaping the infant's implicit memories and reflective thinking. Recent neurobiological attachment and developmental psychology models inform the work. The book describes the underpinning theoretical principles and the settings and forms of direct clinical practice ranging from work with acutely ill babies to more everyday interventions in crying feeding and sleeping difficulties as well as infant-parent psychotherapy. Clinicians at The Royal Children's Hospital Melbourne from the disciplines of psychiatry psychoanalysis psychology nursing speech pathology child psychotherapy paediatrics and music therapy describe their work with ill and suffering babies and their families. </p>