‘A new experience and a new concept’: a study on postgraduate students’ experiences of parent–infant observation

Searching for a family in parent-infant observation; a reflective account of a post-graduate student and their seminar leader

“…At the AFNCCF and within the MSc on Developmental Psychology and Clinical Practice (DPCP) which this student group was enrolled on, it is common for students to begin their course with scant understanding of what a parent-infant observation entails, and indeed what observation itself means within this context. I find it important to keep in mind that members of the group have not directly chosen to partake in this experience, and as discussed above may experience feelings of shock and confusion in relation to the task (Matharu & Perez, 2018). Some students may be vocal in early seminars on their reservations about the task, while others appear to suppress critiques to appear as a 'good' student and instead betray anxieties in other ways.…”

“…Students who complete an observation of one year are supported by the course should they wish to continue for a second year, but this is not a required component of the course. 1 Previous research at the AFNCCF (Matharu & Perez, 2018) explored the experience of postgraduate students conducting parent-infant observation. They acknowledged that this experience was different to that of psychoanalytic trainees, as postgraduate students are more likely to be undecided on their future career path, less familiar with psychoanalytic theory, and unlikely to be in analysis.…”

“…This omission is in some ways understandable as authors naturally prefer to focus their efforts on understanding what happens when parent, infant, and student are together. However, given Matharu and Perez's (2018) findings that postgraduate students struggled with this task and would have preferred not to have to do it, one could also wonder if observers do not wish to explore this experience further due to the uncomfortable feelings it confronts them with. Ultimately, the historical neglect of this area has led to a lack of discussion within the field as to how the search process is managed by institutions and supported by seminar leaders.…”