‘Tele-observation’ (with mobile phone) of infants discussed in online infant observation seminars during the ‘new normal’ of the Covid-19 pandemic

ABSTRACT

The paper is a reflection on the collective experience of a group of observers were observing infants in Tehran, during the ‘lockdown’ period because of the Covid-19 pandemic. All continued their observations using a video link, called ‘tele-observation’. The observers were doing either their first or second year at infant observation in a course at Tehran University of Medical Sciences with babies from seven months to one and a half years old. The younger babies assisted their observers because they were not mobile, while some older ones were mobile, and some were walking; therefore, able to move out of range of the video link. The technology used was a simple cellphone camera using ‘WhatsApp’. The writers discuss the interrelation of two different arenas, the arena of technology and the emotional arena of infant observation. Three significant areas are covered, the observer-mother relationship, the observer-infant relationship and the mother-infant relationship. The authors do not enter into the field of theory, because their aim is to focus on their raw experiences in using video-link instead of observations in person, because of the unprecedented challenges to face to face contact created by a world pandemic.

KEYWORDS:

• Infant observation
• Covid-19 pandemic
• tele-observation
• ‘new normal’
• observation-seminar

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Notes on contributors

Sudabeh Daghighi is an Educator and a counsellor in private practice. She has a BA degree in Comparative History of Culture, from the American College, Tehran, a Master’s degree in Comparative Literature from Tehran University and a Master’s degree in Literary Translations and English Literature from Essex University, UK. She resigned from the faculty of Shahid Beheshti University, where she taught English Literature, to establish a special English school to teach, mentor and educate youngsters in psychodynamic thinking and self awareness. She is enrolled in the Department of Psychotherapy at Roozbeh Hospital to train as a Psychodynamic Psychotherapist and presently is in her first year of Infant Observation Seminars.

Mozhgan Amini M. D. is a psychiatrist and a psychotherapist. She graduated as a General Practitioner from Mashhad University of Medical Sciences and later graduated as an Iranian Board-Certified Psychiatrist. She completed the fellowship programme in psychotherapy in Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Iran and has since worked as psychodynamic psychotherapist and a supervisor in private practice in Tehran. She is also a consultant psychiatrist for Doctors Without Borders, an international organisation working in Iran. She is participating in her second year of the Infant Observation Seminars.

Niloufar Dodangeh has a BA in Psychology and Sociology and MA in Commerce, Marketing and Management, from the University of Virginia, USA. At the University she was a Research Assistant at the Social Cognition and Behavior Lab and the Institute of Development in Adult Study. She did research on Alcohol Abuse amongst University of Virginia's Undergraduate Students. She is studying for a master’s in psychology at Azad University of Tehran and training to become a psychodynamic psychotherapist. Currently, she is in her first year of Infant Observation.

Mansoureh Kiani Dehkordi M.D. is a consultant Psychiatrist and Psychoanalytic Psychotherapist at Razi Hospital for Psychiatry in Shahr -e- Ray, Tehran. She is the Education Co-ordinator for Psychoanalytical Psychotherapy for Psychiatry residents at the University of Social Welfare and Rehabilitation Sciences, Razi Hospital. She supervises group and individual psychotherapy and organises workshops in Interpersonal Psychotherapy (IPT). She organises Balint groups for nurses and organised more than 100 online Balint sessions at the beginning of the Corona Pandemic. She is in her second year of the Infant Observation Seminars.

Mona Hashemzadeh M.D. is a psychiatrist and a graduate of the fellowship programme in the Department of Psychotherapy. She is an Assistant Professor of psychiatry at Roozbeh Hospital affiliated to Tehran University of Medical Sciences. Presently she is working, teaching and supervising trainees as a psychodynamic psychotherapist in the Department of Psychotherapy in Tehran University of Medical Sciences. She is in her second year of Infant Observation Seminars.

Nasim Nekouei Shoja M.D. is a psychiatrist. She is a graduate of the fellowship programme in psychotherapy in Tehran University of Medical Sciences. She is also a Psychotherapist under supervision. She has been working as a trainer and supervisor of Psychotherapy for Psychiatry Residents in Gilan University of Medical Sciences. She is a committee member of Iranian Psychotherapy Association and is also in private practice. Presently she is participating in her second year of Infant Observation Seminars.