The Interpersonal world of the Infant

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The Interpersonal World of the Infant is one of the most prominent works of psychoanalyst Daniel N.Stern, in which he describes the development of the sense of self during first two years of life.[1]

The attunement of the mother plays a critical role in this development in that a lack of attunement, for example caused by depression, can negatively influence these processes by creating an insecure attachment between mother and child.
Stern points out four sensitive periods in development in which a sense of self is to be formed.
• 0 to 2 months: Emergent self, “the basis for the ability to learn and create”.
• 2 to 6 months: Core self, “coherent, willful, physical entity with a unique affective life and history”.
• 7 to 15 months: Subjective self, “experience of sharing minds with other people”
• 15 to 24 months: Verbal self, “ability to symbolically represent oneself”.

These senses of self continue to develop over life, but disturbances during the sensitive periods may have more severe consequences than insults later in life.
According to Stern, these disturbances may become overt any point in time and the nature rather than the time of the insult will determine the resulting conflict. Additionally, later psychopathology will manifest itself in a domain related to the sensitive period in which the insult took place. However, these insults will fail to predict specific clinical issues subsequently involved.[2]

Regarding therapy, Stern highlights the importance of “now moments” as a potential for change and growth in the client as well as the therapist, but also in the therapeutic relationship. These can be described as a moment of intersubjective emotional relatedness and are in Stern’s opinion necessary for positive therapeutic outcome.[3]

For other theories of Stern, see also Motherhood Constellation.


[edit] References

  1. ^ Sonkin, D.J. (2005). Attachment Theory and Psychotherapy. The Therapist. Retrieved February, 2005 from http://www.daniel-sonkin.com/attachment_psychotherapy.htm.
  2. ^ Zeanah, C.H. (1986). Book reviews. Journal of the American Academy of child psychiatry, 25, 582-584.
  3. ^ Stern D (2004). The present moment in psychotherapy and everyday life. W. W. Norton & Company. ISBN 0-393-70429-7.