1. The topic

Psychoanalysis has expanded the knowledge and understanding of children and children’s development in a groundbreaking way. Psychoanalytic efforts have generated powerful theories about the inner world of children, about the dynamics between children and their caregivers and about the impact of early relational experiences on the lifelong formation of psychic structures. On this basis, numerous approaches and methods have been elaborated to improve the development, health and social life of children, young people and adults through psychotherapy, counselling and education.

The psychoanalytic observation of children has provided important contributions to these developments. The broad scope of different types of child observation

Ø includes everyday observations that occur by chance and are discussed from a psychoanalytic perspective. Freud's observation of his grandson playing with a cotton reel is probably the most famous example of this type.

Ø Another type of observation is an inherent element of each psychoanalytic oriented work with children in the context of psychotherapy, counselling, education or care. Sometimes observers record, discuss and publish particular observations. This type of observation was done e.g. in the context of the Jackson Nurseries in the 1930s in Vienna, and was further developed by Anna Freud and her colleagues in London.

Ø A third particular type of observation is conducted by observers who create a special space for observation in order to pay full attention to children e.g. in their families or nurseries without providing psychotherapy, counselling, care or any kind of education. When the observation time is gone, observers record what they have observed and discuss their observational accounts from a psychoanalytic perspective. In the 1960s Esther Bick developed a particular conceptualisation of this type of observation in the Kleinian tradition which is now known worldwide as the Tavistock Observation Method (TOM), including Infant Observation and Young Child Observation.

The Vienna conference offers an opportunity to discuss and consider the various options, capacities and tasks of these types of psychoanalytic child observation for psychotherapy, counselling and education, as well as for research and training.