The Esther Bick method of observation of the mother-infant relationship in the family: the development of transitional phenomena.

• Grant number: 15/17342-7
• Support Opportunities: Regular Research Grants
• Start date: February 01, 2016
• End date: January 31, 2018
• Field of knowledge: Humanities - Psychology - Psychological Treatment and Prevention
• Principal Investigator: Walter José Martins Migliorini
• Grantee: Walter José Martins Migliorini
• Host Institution: Faculdade de Ciências e Letras (FCL-ASSIS). Universidade Estadual Paulista (UNESP). Campus de Assis. Assis , SP, Brazil

Abstract

Descriptive and longitudinal study of the mother-baby relationship during the first year of life. The method of observation is psychoanalytically based and was developed by Esther Bick in the 1940s to support the training of psychoanalysts. Recently there has been a development of the use of this method for research purposes. The objective is to observe and describe the emergence and development of transitional phenomena - a process of special importance for scientific research of the constitution of the psyche, of the symbolization processes and mental health. The use of transitional objects indicates that the baby has already become sufficiently differentiated from the mother and the environment as well to explore objects as symbolic substitutes for his absence. The material resulting from the viewing experience of the mother-baby will be analyzed in order to identify the following: (1) the baby's contact with the own body, with the mother's body, with other people and animals; (2) how the baby relates to inanimate objects and their sensory qualities, such as textures, shapes, sounds, smells, tastes, colors and temperatures; (3) the manner in which inanimate objects are presented by the mother or caregiver to the baby and (4) the origin and development of transitional phenomena. (AU)