LAUSR

The infant represents hope and a new beginning. Generally speaking, most parents and those around the baby are intent on doing all they can to facilitate a good start to life. When things go awry, either physically or emotionally, every effort is usually made to enable a return to a positive path. This effort may be made by the parents themselves, in that they will take on the responsibility of nurturing care instinctively, even if it requires effort and sacrifice. Other parents or caregivers may need help from community based workers and even specialized units.Whatever approachmay be used, it will almost always involve the infant and his/her caregivers or parents and will focus on the relationship between them. Daniel Stern has outlined the unique aspects of therapeutic approaches which aim to help the parent-infant relationship (1). Two of the eight points he makes are worth highlighting in the context of this article: That the infant has an “infant psyche [that is] neither neurotic, borderline or psychotic” (p. 3)—with other words, there is no pathology in the infant psyche. Secondly, that the parents are “psychologically ‘normal,’ in the vast majority of cases” (p. 3). It thus follows that in the field of infant mental health the emphasis lies in supporting health, rather than seeking out pathology. As such, it falls within the ambit of positive psychology, a concept explored by Seligman in 2000. It is “an umbrella term for the study of positive emotions, positive character traits, and enabling institutions” (2) (p. 410). The hallmarks of positive psychology are, amongst others, the fact that positive emotions are widely recognized across cultures, and that they are seen to be contributors to individual fulfillment and satisfaction and that the focus should be on these, rather than on psychopathology.