(1987). Annual of Psychoanalysis, 15:233-244 Neonatal Trauma and Early Development Over the past five years or so, psychoanalysis has had an ambivalent romance with infant research. Some of the research findings seem agreeable and stimulating for psychoanalytic theories of development, and are therefore readily embraced. On the other hand, some findings are so contrary to familiar beliefs of psychoanalysts that they are summarily dismissed or ignored. Recently there have been a number of thoughtful publications, notably those by Lichtenberg (1983) and Emde (1981), which review infant-research findings and attemt to make them relevant and useful to psychoanalytic theory and practice. Among the most agreeable and appealing research findings are the studies which detail and describe the nature and significance of the mother-infant interaction for the development of the child. Psychoanalysis has long held great respect for the mother-child dyad as the foundation for child development and for important aspects of adult pathology. Much of infant research focuses on t [This is a summary or excerpt from the full text of the book or article. The full text of the document is available to subscribers.] |
