three-year training in parent-infant studies
History & Principles of the Program
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The Anni Bergman Parent-Infant Program began in 1997 under the Directorship of Anni Bergman and Rita Reiswig, and the sponsorship of the Contemporary Freudian Society. In 2006, Sally Moskowitz joined as one of the Co-directors, and the Institute for Psychoanalytic Training and Research became an additional sponsor.
The central theoretical and clinical principles of the ABPIP derive from the seminal work on the "psychological birth of the human infant" by Margaret Mahler, Fred Pine, and Anni Bergman, which began at the Masters Children’s Center over fifty years ago, The setting housed a nursery for normally developing children under the age of three, and a nursery for children diagnosed with autism or childhood psychosis. In both nurseries, mothers were active participants in the programs, and the children’s development and the mother-child relationship were closely observed as they naturally unfolded. The ground-breaking theories of the infant’s psychological separation-individuation process and the centrality of the mother-child relationship in that process grew out of these observational studies. Concurrently in London, Esther Bick was developing her method of infant observation, visiting mothers and babies in their homes rather than seeing them in a research or nursery setting. This method allowed for the observation of newborns, and also gave an immediacy and coherence to the origins of infant-mother relationship. Mahler's approach was largely based on ego psychology, especially the work of Anna Freud, Spitz, and Hartmann, whereas the British approach grew out of Kleinian theory and its elaboration by Winnicott and Bion. |
Photo by Ann Steiner
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Building on the fertile ground of this early work, the Co-directors have brought to the Anni Bergman Parent-Infant Program a contemporary understanding of infant observation, the theory of infant development originating in the circular influences between parent and baby, and of dyadic parent-infant psychotherapy. Beatrice Beebe's research and theoretical work in the microanalysis of mother-infant interaction, and Miriam Steele's work in attachment theory have proven particularly influential to our current thinking and have enriched the psychoanalytic understanding of infancy.
Curriculum
During the first year of the Three-Year Training in Parent-Infant Studies, each student conducts a weekly infant observation in the home of a parent-baby dyad. Building on the understanding gained from infant observation, the second year consists of in-depth study of current research and theories of infant development and the parent-infant relationship. In the third year, each student works clinically with mothers and babies either in connection with our home visiting project or in the clinician's private office. Learning progresses from the experiential in the first year to the didactic in the second year to a synthesis of both in the third.
Year One
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Each student finds a parent and baby to observe in the family home for one hour each week for at least one year. The model of infant observation follows the model originated by Esther Bick and also is informed by the observation method developed by Mahler, Pine, and Bergman.
The observer focuses on the nuances of the baby’s behavior and the parent's ministrations. After each visit, the observer writes process notes detailing the sequence and interactions of the visit. Observers take turns presenting their narratives to the seminar, and the seminar group discusses the material. Over time, what emerges is a coherent story of each parent-baby dyad. The observer not only learns about his or her own parent-infant dyad but also builds a picture of the dyads of their fellow trainees. Students come to understand the wide range of possible experiences for parent-infant pairs. |
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Infant observation has formed the basis for psychoanalytic training in many psychoanalytic institutes around the world. It offers a unique opportunity for understanding primitive mental states, the origins of the development of the mind and relationship, the nuances and complexities of preverbal communication, and the intensity and intimacy of transference and countertransference phenomena. What is witnessed between mother and baby by the observer can arouse feelings often surprising in their intensity. The seminar provides a structure for reflection and discussion. There are parallels between the observer's and the parent’s roles in processes of containment, affect regulation, and timing, and these elements can also be further thought of as they apply to the analytic situation. It is the observer’s own psyche which functions as an instrument for collecting data, giving the infant observation method its own specificity and vitality.
Year Two
The second-year curriculum begins with an in-depth reading of psychoanalytic theories of infancy and the parent-infant relationship, including the work of Freud, Klein, Winnicott, Mahler, Bowlby, and Bion. From these foundations, the curriculum moves to current theorists and mother-infant researchers including Beebe, Brazelton, Fonagy, Hofer, Steele, Stern, and Tronick. Topics include affect regulation, communication, the development of self and object representations, separation-individuation theory, attachment theory, and neurobiology. The program faculty teaches this part of the curriculum along with scholars from the international community who visit to present their current thinking and research.
The curriculum periodically revisits the observations of the previous year, looking to see where the theory fits or does not fit. The course content creates it own dynamic dialectic between observational data and theory building. Theory is seen as a living, flexible model for understanding the complex relationships and interactions observed during the first year.
The curriculum periodically revisits the observations of the previous year, looking to see where the theory fits or does not fit. The course content creates it own dynamic dialectic between observational data and theory building. Theory is seen as a living, flexible model for understanding the complex relationships and interactions observed during the first year.
Year Three
In the third year, students concentrate on clinical applications of infant observation and psychoanalytic developmental theory. Clinical opportunities can include work with parent-infant dyads in private offices or through the ABPIP Home Visiting Project, or group work with parents and infants. Students present their clinical work to the seminar and are supervised both individually and in the group. For graduation, each student writes a paper based on a particular clinical or theoretical aspect of either their three-year training in infant observation or parent-infant treatment.
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Parent-infant treatment has become increasingly practiced as more has become known about the early origins of childhood and adult disorders and the preventative effects of early intervention. We have been profoundly influenced by the rich contributions of Klein, Winnicott, Bick, Mahler, Pine, and Bergman, and more currently Norman, Baradon, Stern, Lieberman and Slade, Bjorn Salmmonson, Lisa Miller, Louise Emanuel and Frances Thomson-Salo.
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Faculty
Sally Moskowitz, Ph.D., Co-director
Rita Reiswig, M.S., L.P., Founding & Co-director Consultants
Beatrice Beebe, Ph.D.
Miriam Steele, Ph.D. |
Past and Current Visiting Lecturers
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To apply, please download the application form and email to our Program Administrator at [email protected].
For more information, please contact either Rita Reiswig at 516.672.2620/[email protected] or Sally Moskowitz at 917.697.3788/[email protected].
The next training cycle begins in Fall 2024. The yearly tuition is $3000.
For more information, please contact either Rita Reiswig at 516.672.2620/[email protected] or Sally Moskowitz at 917.697.3788/[email protected].
The next training cycle begins in Fall 2024. The yearly tuition is $3000.
