Brief mother–infant treatment: Psychoanalytically informed video feedback

Specific patterns of interactive regulation documented by microanalytic methods of infant research can be applied to clinical interventions with mothers and infants. A brief treatment model is described that includes face‐to‐face split‐screen videotaping (one camera on each partner) and therapeutic observation of the videotape with the parent. The intervention uses “video feedback” informed by a psychoanalytic approach, including positive reinforcement, modeling, and information giving, as well as interpretation, while watching the videotape. Specific interactions in the areas of attention, arousal, affect, and timing regulation are evaluated. The psychoanalytic intervention links the “story” of the presenting complaints, the “story” seen in the videotape, and the “story” of the parent's own upbringing. An attempt is made to identify specific representations of the baby that may interfere with the parents's ability to observe and process the nonverbal interaction. The mother's powerful experience of watching herself and her baby interact, and our joint attempts to translate the action‐sequences into words, facilitates the mother's ability to “see” and to “remember,” stimulating a rapid integration of the mother's procedural and declarative modes of information‐processing. One treatment case, involving six contacts, is presented to illustrate the approach. By applying the specificity of interactive regulation identified by microanalysis of videotape into the psychodynamic treatment of mother–infant pairs, basic research can be translated into clinical practice. ©2003 Michigan Association for Infant Mental Health.