Psychopathology and Adaptation in Infancy and Early Childhood

The changing practices of an infant psychiatry program: The McGill experience

“…This happened to a significant degree in response to social changes in the North American family (e.g., an increase of working mothers) and new knowledge about developmental processes of infants (Minde & Benoit, 1991). Among the leaders in this new field of clinical activity were Selma Fraiberg at Ann Arbor, Sally Provence at Yale University, and Stanley Greenspan in Washington (Fraiberg, 1980;Greenspan, 1981;Provence & Naylor, 1983).…”

Converging perspectives of dynamic theory and evolving neurobiological knowledge

“…At the level of psychobiological processes, symbiotic experience potentiates the child's capacity to move from positive to negative, and then back to positive affective states with the help of a care-giving adult. Some theorists now characterize this as resilience in the face of stress, a fundamental indicator of attachment capacity (Greenspan, 1981;Demos, 1991). Of course, less than perfect attunement can disrupt what Winnicott (1958) termed "going on being."…”

An information processing view of object‐relations

“…In addition to working out inventories of infant-mother interaction (Greenspan, 1980;Greenspan et al, 1981), Greenspan and Lourie (1981) elaborated the principles of their approach, which they called "Developmental Structuralist." Stern has recently (1989) expanded on his ideas regarding the formation of object representations and images of relational patterns; Greenspan and Lieberman (1980) describe their instrument, the GreenspanLieberman Observational Setting (GLOS), which a number of other investigators have since applied.…”

“…And, it is very difficult for us to image what could be the psychic experience when Greenspan and Greenspan (1985) describe "the enraptured gaze a four-month old baby gives his mother" (p. 8). We cannot attribute a conscious registration of this experience-nor even that it contains all the elements of an adult affect.…”