Stephen Briggs Ph.D CQSW is Senior Clinical Lecturer at the Tavistock Clinic and Associate Senior Lecturer at the Department of Sociology of the University of East London. He is the author of several books, and contributed to Learning and Teaching in Social Work.

• Foreword - Gillian Ruch. 1. Introduction. Observation for our times - Clare Parkinson, Lucille Allain and Helen Hingley-Jones. PART I: Observation, Learning and Teaching. 2. From observation, via reflection, to practice: psychoanalytic baby and young child observation and the helping professions - Helen Hingley-Jones. 3. 'To know', 'to do' and 'to be': Learning through observation in medical training, teaching, midwifery and social work - Lucille Allain. 4. 'How does it feel?' Best Interests Assessors observe adult group care - Clare Parkinson. 5. The Sociological Turn- Observations on a broader canvas - Patricia Cartney, Manchester University. PART II: Observation and Practice. 6. Work with troubled adolescents: observation as a key skill for practitioners - Stephen Briggs, University of East London. 7. Observation, attention and awareness: emotional states and bodily clues - Graham Music, Tavistock and Portman Clinics. 8. Applied psychoanalytic observation in practice with younger people affected by dementia - Claire Kent, Tavistock Centre. 9. The use of observation in developing parenting capacity - Duncan McLean and Minna Daum, Anna Freud Centre. PART III: Observation and Research. 10. Soft Eyes: Observation as Research - Andrew Cooper, Tavistock Centre and University of East London. 11. Conclusion - Lucille Allain, Clare Parkinson and Helen Hingley-Jones.

The relationship between psychoanalytic ideas and health, and social care/work, has sometimes been, at best ambivalent, and at worst fraught. This book creates a coherent dialogue between the thinking underpinning psychoanalytic baby and young child observation, and the worlds of: health and social care/work practice; social care/work and health education; and research. This is an exciting, ambitious venture, and one from which academics and practitioners can learn and benefit.