Infant Observation

Aims & Scope

Psychoanalytic infant observation, developed at The Tavistock Clinic in 1948, has become an essential feature of pre-clinical training in child and adult psychotherapy, psychoanalysis and related fields throughout the world.

Infant Observation publishes the best of the varied and original writing emerging from this field.

It comprises case studies on infant and young child observation, research papers, and articles focusing on wider applications of the psychoanalytic observational method, including its relevance to reflective professional practice in fields such as social work, teaching and nursing.

The journal also welcomes lively correspondence.

Infant Observation is essential reading for teachers, students and practitioners of psychoanalytic psychotherapy and observational studies, and for those interested in the development and application of the infant observation method.

Readers and contributors include analysts, psychotherapists, social workers, teachers, nurses, doctors and many others with an interest in the area.

All manuscript submissions are subject to initial appraisal by the Editor, and, if found suitable for further consideration, to peer review by independent, anonymous expert referees.

View Aims & Scope

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Metrics & Ranking

Journal Rank

Year	Value
2024	27761

Journal Citation Indicator

Year	Value
2024	9

SJR (SCImago Journal Rank)

Year	Value
2024	0.116

Quartile

Year	Value
2024	Q4

h-index

Year	Value
2024	7

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Abstracting & Indexing

Journal is indexed in leading academic databases, ensuring global visibility and accessibility of our peer-reviewed research.

• Scopus
• Google Scholar

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Subjects & Keywords

Journal’s research areas, covering key disciplines and specialized sub-topics in Psychology, designed to support cutting-edge academic discovery.

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Most Cited Articles

The Most Cited Articles section features the journal's most impactful research, based on citation counts. These articles have been referenced frequently by other researchers, indicating their significant contribution to their respective fields.

• Infant observation research: What have we learned so far?

  Citation: 48

  Authors: Michael

• Struggling against a feeling of becoming lost: a young boy's painful transition to day care

  Citation: 42

  Authors: Wilfried, Margit, Antonia

• What do we see in the nursery? Infant observation as ‘laboratory work.’

  Citation: 42

  Authors: Michael

• Co-constructing mother–infant distress in face-to-face interactions: Contributions of microanalysis

  Citation: 40

  Authors: Beatrice

• Keep in touch: The importance of touch in infant development

  Citation: 32

  Authors: Lynn

• Doing infant observation differently? Researching the formation of mothering identities in an inner London borough

  Citation: 29

  Authors: Cathy

• Esther Bick's legacy of infant observation at the Tavistock—some reflections 60 years on

  Citation: 29

  Authors: Margaret

• Why love matters: How affection shapes a baby's brain

  Citation: 24

  Authors: Sue

• Looking in the right place: Complexity theory, psychoanalysis and infant observation

  Citation: 24

  Authors: Michael

• A therapeutic application of infant observation in child psychiatry

  Citation: 22

  Authors: Didier

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