Psychoanalytical Method of Infant Observation

This research attempts to analyse the current state of the method of psychoanalytic infant observation, which was introduced into the practice of training child psychoanalysts more than seventy years ago, but has undergone significant changes during this time. The method has become much more widely used than originally thought, and its practical utility in identifying early pathologies has become invaluable. Areas of application of the method of psychoanalytical infant observation today are considered such as observation as a measure for detecting early mental disorders associated with the mother's low capacity for containment; observation as cross-cultural research; observation as a measure for accompanying children in specialised health facilities; and observation as a tool for clarifying and expanding the theory of early childhood development. The research analyses the polar views of French and British psychoanalytic schools on the method of psychoanalytic infant observation and attempts to understand the essence of this conflict in a historical context. It is linked to the theoretical views of both schools, and clarifies the very concept of psychoanalytic infant observation. The work raises a question about the possibility of obtaining positive dynamics in the conditions of psychoanalytical observation of an infant, analyses the containment role of the observer and its positive influence on the dynamics of observation, analyses the group dynamics of the family within the framework of observation. In the practical part of the work the hypotheses that were analysed in the theoretical part of the research are considered on the basis of clinical material.