Transcendence,transmission and transformation: the transcendent function in infant observation

Abstract: This article discusses the activation of the transcendent function as it operates through a series of complex parallel processes occurring within a Tavistock Model Infant Observation Group whose location is Palo Alto, California. We follow the observer, a seasoned female analyst, through her final two observations as she is caught initially in the central family complex that does not allow for a conscious ending to this three‐year observational period. Subsequently through the work of the transcendent function within the group, a discussion of the observer's ensuing paradoxical enactment takes place as we watch how this observer becomes able to help the family reach a termination not previously possible. Moving within a dynamic field that includes the infant observation group, the observed baby and his family, we experience the numinosity of the transformation that is activated. We will explore the ongoing encounter between the group mind, the observer and the observed as mutations within this dynamic field enable a genuine experience of mourning that has a profound effect on the observed baby and family.