Notes on the technique of psychoanalytic infant observation: A group-analytic training perspective

Recent developments in the field of psychoanalytic infant observation are considered as a basis for extending the dyadic focus of the technique to encompass a group orientated perspective. A provisional method of 'group-as-a-whole infant observation' is presented using illustrative material and is accompanied by a contextualizing analysis. It is posited that group observation of infants and children may highlight group dynamics in unrefined forms and may therefore be a useful resource not only in the training of group practitioners but also as a way of deepening group and social theory.