Translating observation into practice: how has infant observation helped a primary care mental health worker understand families’ experiences of loss?

Abstract

This paper explores how psychoanalytic infant observation helped a primary care mental worker (PCMHW) work with two children and their parents, who presented with anxiety related to loss. Three areas of focus are identified from the infant observation as being useful for understanding loss, which include early defence mechanisms, parental experiences of loss, and containment. These three areas are then explored in relation to clinical work with a 5-year-old boy and a 10-year-old boy. When discussing each area of focus, the paper draws upon vignettes from infant observation to illustrate how the observation informed the PCMHW's practice. The paper concludes that a psychoanalytic infant observation is useful for a PCMHW who offers brief work to children and their parents who are experiencing anxiety related to loss.