These seminars have been designed in the light of accruing research evidence on the importance of very early experiences in the development of a core sense of self – the baby-self that is present throughout life. The programme traces the journey from the first sense of self that the baby experiences to the adult's interaction with that earliest developmental core.

We now have much clearer understanding about how the emotional development of a baby is influenced by multiple factors: parental states of mind and their emotional histories, genetic inheritance, the pregnancy and birth experience, local political and cultural circumstances, and available material resources. The baby-self that develops during this time resides deeply within us and emerges in intimate relationships throughout the life span.

We begin by exploring the reality of a baby's dependency and primitive neediness. We will consider, for example, how it is within the lived relationships with the primary care givers that a baby gradually develops ways to manage painful physical experiences, experiences that are felt intensely in the body because a baby has no words with which to think. Our speakers will offer a contemporary understanding of many crucial and complex developmental themes: babies’ ways of communicating, emerging sexuality, how a baby experiences and manages triangular and sibling relationships, and why a parent may find themselves facing emotional breakdown when faced with a new baby.

Many individuals who suffer from emotional problems later in life have immense difficulty in regulating difficult emotions, particularly when the defences that have been needed to protect the vulnerable baby-self have become too defensive, too habitual or too rigid. These seminars will help us to understand where such problems may begin, and how to relate psychotherapeutically to the baby-self we meet in our adult patients.

It is a fascinating era in terms of our understanding both a baby’s and an adult’s emotional world and we hope you will join us in this exploration.

Amanda Jones and Jane Ryan