This paper takes the form of an account of the emergence of the field of psychoanalytically informed parent-infant/child psychotherapy in South Africa. It traces the origins and the development of the South African field by locating local practice within the international field. The influential links between international approaches and local practice and services are described. The historical account is based on a review of published parent-infant/child literature, including South African authored texts. Interviews with key local stakeholders and practitioners supplement the literature review. This paper endeavours to locate parent-infant/child psychotherapy more clearly on the map of mental health work in South Africa, and in so doing to promote the work as both a relevant and valuable intervention.

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South African authored writings on psychoanalytically-informed parent-infant/child psychotherapy are rare, but this dearth does not accurately reflect the extent of practice in the country at the community, public and private levels. Interviews with a sample of key stakeholders and practitioners provided information on different services currently offered in the South African parent-infant/child psychotherapy field. Three major themes were identified during an analysis of interview material: the role of language and culture; the issue of training; and the challenge of working outside of a national health system. Interviewees also described adaptive responses to these contextual challenges. These responses are discussed as evidence of the usefulness of theoretical and technical eclecticism, when applied with psychoanalytic mindfulness, in developing the South African parent-infant/child psychotherapy field.

Multirelational interventions are well described in the psychoanalytic parent-infant literature. Daniel Stern (1995) originally suggested and described five "ports of entry" that may be employed to access the multiperson parent-infant clinical system. Other authors have elaborated and extended Stern's original list of ports of entry. The impact of using multiple ports of entry on the psychoanalytic frame, however, is largely neglected in the parent-infant psychotherapy literature. Danielle Quinodoz's (1992) four facets of the psychoanalytic setting are used to structure a discussion of how the multiplicities associated with parent-infant psychotherapy may impact the frame. The article argues strongly for a necessary flexing of the psychoanalytic frame to establish therapeutic alliances. A fifth facet, that of psychoanalytic mindfulness, is offered as a counterbalance to the risks associated with excessive flexing of the frame, particularly in relation to Quinodoz's fourth facet of "refraining from 'doing.'" This article relies on case material to illustrate the issues under discussion. Further engagement and debate are invited.

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