Abstract
The processes driving development of a child, primarily those embedded in the parent-child relationship, are the most striking form of human change. Therapy too works to change the functioning of individuals. In this presentation, Dr. Tronick will suggest that the parent-child relaionship qualities that promote change and growth can aid our understanding of the patient- therapist relationship. While the differences between therapy and parent-child relationships are recognized, the basic characteristics of the parent-child relationship, when applied to the therapeutic relationship, may enhance therapeutic change. Using videos from his research on the Still-Face and parent-child interactions, Dr. Tronick will illustrate the necessity of dyadic organization; the fundamental, messy process of meaning making; and the essential function of reparation.
Learning Objectives
At the end of this presentation the participants will be able to:
1. Discuss how Claude Bernard’s view of all biological organisms, including humans, is a brilliant idea, as well as how it fails to account for child’s development.
2. List the significant differences between the therapeutic relationship and the parent-child relationship.
3. Describe the positive effects of a dyad’s ability to engage in reparation of the inevitable mismatching and messiness of interactions.
Biography
Ed Tronick is a renowned developmental and clinical psychologist. He
is currently a Professor of Psychiatry and Pediatrics at the University of
Massachusetts Chan Medical School. Formerly, he was an Associate
Professor of Pediatrics at Harvard Medical School and the University
Distinguished Professor at UMass Boston. He is a past member of the
Boston Psychoanalytic Society and Institute, the Boston Process of
Change Group, and a Founder of the Touchpoints program. He created
the Early Relational Health Fellowship at the Chan Medical School and
the Infant-Parent Mental Health Fellowship at UC Davis. He developed
the Newborn Behavioral Assessment Scale and the Touchpoints Project
with T.B. Brazelton. With Barry Lester he developed the NICU Network
Neurobehavioral Assessment Scale. He has developed norms for the
neurobehavior of clinically healthy newborns, and currently is
developing individualized interventions for preterm and at-risk infants
based on their neurobehavior. Dr.Tronick developed the Still-Face Paradigm and recently the Caretaker Acute Stress Paradigm. His current research focuses on NIRS and MRI responses to the Still-face and memory for the still-face, including epigenetic processes affecting behavior. He has worked on epidemiologic data sets to understand the nature of the responses to questions related to depression and help seeking of women in different ethnic and racial groups. Recently he has begun research on brain development and parenting of micro-Lemurs. He developed conceptual models based in dynamic systems theory for dyadic infant-mother (adult) interactions, including the Mutual Regulation Model and the Caretaker Buffer-Transducer Model. He has published more than 300 scientific articles and 8 books, several hundred photographs, and has appeared on national radio and television programs. He lectures on the Still-face, trauma, maternal depression and infant neurobehavior to world-wide clinical audiences. His research has been continuously funded by NICHD and NSF.
References
Harrison, A., & Tronick, E. (2021). Intersubjectivity: Conceptual considerations in meaning making with a clinical illustration. Frontiers in Psychology, 12(715873). DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2021.715873
Tronick, E., & Hunter, R. (2020). Keeping complexity in mind. In Tollefsbol, T., Provenzi, L. & Montirosso, R. (Eds.), Developmental human behavioral epigenetics (Vol. 23): Principles, methods, evidence, and future directions (pp. xi-xvi). Academic Press, Elsevier. DOI: 10.1016/B978-0-12-819262-7.09990-6
Tronick, E. (2022). Trauma never occurs only once: Being traumatized by a slap is like making meaning of the game of peek-a-boo. Psychoanalytic Dialogues, 32(6), 661-673. DOI: 10.1080/10481885.2022.2138083
