Book Review: The Developmental Science of Early Childhood

In her new book, The Developmental Science of Early Childhood: Clinical Applications of Infant Mental Health Concepts from Infancy Through Adolescence, Claudia M. Gold draws upon recent research, theory, and vignettes to delve into the world of young children and show just how we may better understand them, now, and as adults. “Whether a client is one day or twenty-one years, the developmental science of early childhood offers a conceptual framework from which to understand, to make sense of, his or her story,” writes Gold. The infant mental health paradigm, Gold tells us, is characterized by four key components — it is relational, developmental, multidisciplinary, and reflective. However, we must also shift from asking what (as in, what is wrong with the child) to why (as in, why is she behaving in the way she is). “When we let ourselves listen without need to make a diagnosis, we have the opportunity to think creatively to make sense of stories that have multiple layers of complexity,” Gold writes. Of particular importance — if often overlooked — is the mother’s preoccupied state, which is exemplified when the expectation that what should come naturally does not, and the new mother finds herself feeling inadequate. As these feelings make reading her infant’s cues more difficult, the result is a downward spiral of mutual dysregulation. Here, it is the mother herself who may need more than instruction. Gold quotes renowned development expert D...
Source: Psych Central - Category: Psychiatry Authors: Tags: Anxiety Book Reviews Children and Teens Family Genetics Parenting Psychology childhood Claudia Gold Developmental Psychology Donald Winnicott epigenetics human development Source Type: news