(1992). International Forum of Psychoanalysis, 1:119-120 Review by: Arthur A. Gray Ever so often a book of major import comes along which revolutionizes our thinking about the therapeutic process. The Interpersonal World of the Infant by Daniel Stern is such a book. The title itself is a sort of enigma. Stern actually describes in coherent and meaningful ways the subjective world of the infant. Yet the title is the “Interpersonal World of the Infant”. Stern recognizes that in the two-person world of caretaker and infant interacting, a matrix exists which nurtures the psychological development of the infant. Stern's conclusions shatter some of the misconceptions of early developmental theory based on analysis of adults. Mahler's (1) observations of mother-child interaction were early attempts to bring more rigor to our psychoanalytic formulations. But her formulations of development from autism to separation-individuation and finally object constancy, maintained the psychoanalytic bias of a long period of undifferentiation followed by self and [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.] |
