Making space for a fourth, unplanned child with the help of the observer's holding and receptive capacity

Abstract

Creating a space for more than one child is a challenge for the mother that already has other children at a pre-school age. The present case study was carried out based on a research application of the Bick method of infant observation. The baby and his family were observed weekly, for 12 months. He belonged to a family, consisting of a mother, a father and their four boys, a baby and three siblings aged two, three, and four years old. The mother gradually created a space for welcoming the observer as well as the baby. The observer?s countertransference reactions were essential and the receptiveness of the observer enabled the mother to use her for expressing her feelings albeit silently.

A place where verbalisation has no meaning

“…2. The seminar group membership was as follows: the seminar leader, the obstetric centre observer and two other observers applying the method in two different contexts; one was observation in a large family (Vivian, Lopes, & Caron, 2011), and the second was an observation of an infant with Down's syndrome (Oliveira-Menegotto, Lopes & Caron, 2010).…”