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Looking back to light the path forward: Ghosts in the Nursery revisited

Arietta Slade1

  • 1Yale Child Study Center, New Haven, Connecticut, USA.

Infant Mental Health Journal
|October 24, 2023
PubMed

Insights

This commentary reviews key lessons from the classic "Ghosts in the Nursery" paper, emphasizing their enduring relevance for infant mental health practice amidst contemporary global challenges. It proposes a relational model for infant and early childhood mental health.

Area of Science:

  • Psychoanalytic theory
  • Infant mental health
  • Early childhood development

Background:

  • The seminal 1975 paper "Ghosts in the Nursery" established foundational principles for infant-mother relationship interventions.
  • Fraiberg's work remains influential in infant mental health practice.
  • Contemporary challenges include global trauma, economic hardship, and systemic racism, impacting infant-parent relationships.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To review the enduring lessons from Fraiberg et al.'s (1975) classic paper.
  • To examine challenges in applying Fraiberg's model to current infant mental health practice.
  • To propose a contemporary model for infant and early childhood mental health practice focused on relational reflection.

Main Methods:

  • Review of the foundational "Ghosts in the Nursery" paper.
  • Analysis of contemporary challenges in infant mental health.
  • Conceptualization of a new relational model for practice.

Main Results:

  • Fraiberg's lessons offer essential insights for clinical progress in infant mental health.
  • Retaining the full scope of Fraiberg's model presents significant challenges in today's context.
  • A relational model emphasizing reflective functioning is proposed for contemporary practice.

Conclusions:

  • The principles outlined in "Ghosts in the Nursery" continue to be vital for effective infant mental health.
  • Adapting these principles requires addressing current societal stressors.
  • Building relational foundations of reflection is key for modern infant and early childhood mental health interventions.

Keywords:
BindungPsychothérapie nourrisson-parentSäuglings-Eltern-Psychotherapieafectividadattachementattachmentcrianza con reflexióninfant-parent psychotherapyintervención con base en el traumaintervention basée sur le traumareflective parentingreflektierte Elternschaftréflexion de parentagesicoterapia infante-progenitortrauma-informed interventiontraumainformierte Interventionالعلاج النفسي للرضع والآباء، التربية التأملية، التعلق، التدخل القائم على الصدمة亲子心理治疗依恋创伤知情干预反思性育儿

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