Editorial: RIOB-21-3

Abstract

We made an editorial decision earlier in the year that we would include two symposia of papers about work discussion which were given at the first International Work Discussion Conference in Vienna in 2016 and that these would form the bulk of two issues of Volume 21 leaving us with a relatively modestly sized third issue for the year. The papers which we have included in Volume 21-3 represent different aspects of the heritage of Esther Bick as it has spread to many parts of the world as well as within the UK. A paper entitled ‘Baby’s wellbeing, baby’s discomfort; what about the observer?’ is written by a group of authors from Nantes in western France. The paper looks at some lovely, detailed observation of two babies focusing on one occasion when the babies were clearly feeling at ease and on another where each baby was ‘in discomfort’. The authors look again at observation sequences and consider the baby’s feelings and those of the mother and of the observer. The discussion considers that what is observed and understood about the states of mind of mother and baby evolves through observation, then the process of writing notes, in which the observer is putting events and feelings into words, followed by developments when the material is presented and discussed with the seminar leader and other observers in the group. The authors suggest that wellbeing or discomfort refers to a process at work in both the mother and child relationship and in what the observer experiences, while observing, then writing notes and, finally in presenting the written record for discussion. In a paper for this journal published some years ago (Caron, Sobreira Lopes, Steibel, & Schneider Donelli, 2012) Nara Caron and Rita Sobreira Lopes consider the stages of ‘processing’ any observation in a similar way adding a fourth stage, that of writing and publishing. They consider that observation itself is first experienced in a predominantly sensory and solitary way in which the observer is exposed to a series of feelings which emerge again in the written report and then again in sharing the report with the group. The fourth, optional stage, is the publication of the material for dissemination and discussion to a much wider group and to contribute to research. Observing babies often puts the observer in touch with non-verbal, ‘primitive’ very unsettling feelings, which take time to describe in words and then to metabolise, using one’s own thinking self, and almost always with the support of others. It is accepted in the world of infant observation that observers need support, just as new parents do in order not to feel isolated and overwhelmed. The new observer, in parallel with the new parent, is in an unfamiliar and emotionally charged situation, responsible for the helpless baby, and, in turn, often feeling vulnerable and in need of care herself. While the observer is only present for an hour a week, this ‘new experience and new concept’ is quite overwhelming to many. Gurleen Matharu and Alejandra Perez have done some research into postgraduate students’ experience of parent–infant observation which is a requirement of two Master’s courses in Developmental Psychology, the MSc in Psychoanalytic Developmental Psychology and the MSc in Developmental Psychology and Clinical Practice (taught at the Anna Freud Centre and accredited by University College, London). They note that in many institutions, infant observation is the first part of clinical training in psychoanalytic