I came into my work as a clinical psychologist from a long-term interest in early childhood development, and through extensive training with infants, toddlers, young children and their parents as a child development specialist.
In the early 70’s I taught pre-school and coordinated mother-toddler groups where I put my knowledge of early childhood development into practice. I observed the nuances of attachment and separation while working with two and three year-olds separating from their parents for the first time in a school environment. Separation, like attachment, is a relational process impacting both parent and child. Development unfolded in the constantly changing flow of attaching and separating.
I learned that a calm presence helped parent and child ease conflicted feelings of wanting to hold on while simultaneously needing to let go. In these beginning moments of the long process towards individuation, I discovered a gentle ability to stay steady in the midst of great ambivalence.
My appreciation of the subtleties in the parent/child relationship translated into my next career choice. An ongoing commitment to deep, introspective investigation of the self comfortably found its way to the therapy office. My firsthand knowledge of attachment and separation in the early years helped me understand at what stage patients became stuck in the development of a cohesive self. Each person has an understanding of attachment, separation and loss emerging from unique experiences in primary relationships. The therapist provides a holding environment, a protective and accepting atmosphere for the recounting of early experience. Patient and therapist embark on this journey together.
