Observing and interpreting clinical process
Methods and findings from ‘Layered analysis’ of parent–infant psychotherapy
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 11276159 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Tessa Baradon (0000-0001-9763-3194, Child Attachment and Psychological Therapies Research Unit Anna Freud Centre London UK), Evrinomy Avdi (0000-0003-3803-4188, Child Attachment and Psychological Therapies Research Unit Anna Freud Centre London UK, corresponding author), Michelle Sleed (0000-0002-2321-2116, Child Attachment and Psychological Therapies Research Unit Anna Freud Centre London UK), Björn Salomonsson (0000-0003-4747-541X, Child Attachment and Psychological Therapies Research Unit Anna Freud Centre London UK), Keren Amiran (Child Attachment and Psychological Therapies Research Unit Anna Freud Centre London UK) |
| Year | 2023 |
| Volume | 44 |
| Issue | 5 |
| Pages | 691-704 |
| Publication date | 2023-09-01 |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Infant Mental Health Journal (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0163-9641 • E-ISSN: 1097-0355 |
| Publisher | Wiley (PUBLISHER • GB) |
| DOI | 10.1002/imhj.22073 |
| PMID | 37341063 |
| OpenAlex | W4381469518 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 3 |
| References cited | 50 |
This paper describes a method for investigating clinical process, Layered Analysis, which combines therapist countertransference reports and multi‐faceted microanalytic research approaches. Findings from the application of Layered Analysis to video‐recorded micro‐events of rupture and repair in four psychoanalytic parent–infant psychotherapy sessions are presented. Layered analysis showed that countertransference and observation are complementary perspectives, which enable concomitant study of interactive events, conscious internal experiences, as well as nonconscious and unconscious elements of therapeutic interaction. Interactional rupture and repair were found to constitute co‐constructed micro‐events that occurred fleetingly and often implicitly, and differed in the structure, coherence and flow of interactions and in the relationship between verbal and nonverbal communication. Furthermore, interactional ruptures were found to sometimes ‘get into’ the therapist and transiently disrupt their self‐organization, such that the therapist became a locus of disruption for the patient(s), actively contributing to the rupture, which thus became embedded in the therapeutic system. Interactive repair was found to be most often initiated by the therapist and to be underpinned by the therapist re‐establishing self‐regulation, through metabolizing embodied and verbal aspects of the rupture. Studying such processes can enhance our understanding of clinical process, inform therapist training and clinical supervision, and contribute to clinical outcomes
Cognitive psychology · Countertransference · Developmental psychology · Embodied cognition · Nonverbal communication · Psychoanalysis · Psychoanalytic theory · Psychotherapist · Therapeutic relationship · Transference · Unconscious mind · Child Therapy and Development · Computer Science · Counseling, Therapy, and Family Dynamics · Psychology · Psychotherapy Techniques and Applications
The two‐person unconscious
From psychoanalytic narrative to empirical single case research
Infant research and adult treatment revisited
Explicating the Implicit
Brief mother–infant treatment
The process of therapeutic change involving implicit knowledge
Studying the process of psychoanalytic parent–infant psychotherapy
Interfaces between intersubjectivity and attachment
The Interpersonal Words of the Infant
The analyst's body as tuning fork
On holding and containing, being and dreaming
The foundational level of psychodynamic meaning
Infants' meaning-making and the development of mental health problems
Psychoanalytic Supervision
Between listening and expression
The contribution of mother-infant mutual influence to the origins of self- and object representations
Less is more
| Citations per year | 1.5 |
|---|---|
| Citation span | 2024 - 2025 (2) |
| Highly cited | No |