Infant-led innovations in a mother-baby therapy group

A mother-baby therapy group for mothers and infants in their first year who are experiencing difficulties is described. In a literature review no comparable group where the infants are seen as members in their own right has been found. Themes in the mothers' material are outlined, followed by the infants' evolving interactive and internal processes. Some therapeutic factors, in particular interactions between the infants and interventions on the part of the therapists, are then illustrated with clinical material. Some infant-led innovations are described, such as the way the infants' activity is used as a basis for making ‘group as a whole’ interpretations, and in particular how the therapists' actions towards the infants have come to be viewed as a non-verbal form of interpretation. The role of attuned play in direct work with infants is discussed further.