Therapeutic consultation, early detection of alarm symptoms in infants and treatment with parent-infant psychotherapy

Chapter 6, by Negri, presents the infant from a neurodevelopmental and psychological perspective. She works in Bergamo, Italy, and in her therapeutic consultations, which treat disorders in the parent-child relationship, she links the infant's neurological development with his or her emerging emotional life. Negri describes her way of observing infants and parents - inspired by Bick's method of infant observation - that focuses on infants who present autistic-like symptoms. She calls these "alarm symptoms" - they are present in children at risk, and may become a predominant part of their personality in that there is a loss of variability and a decrease in the ability to interact with the environment. Negri helps parents to draw their baby out of potential autistic encapsulations (Alvarez 1992, Tustin 1981). Her supportive affirming of parental strengths and non-interpretative guidance is rooted in her deep understanding of the unconscious relationship between parents and sick babies. We read that Daniel, a very troubled baby at risk of developing a serious psychopatology, is now a healthy seventeen-year-old young man, thanks to his parents' courage and trust in Negri's sensitive therapeutic input.