Theory III The relational baby

Core principles of a current relational-developmental orientation offered: A review is offered of central analytic controversies from this robust and inclusive developmental perspective, with infant observation research and the intersubjective-relational models central. These include core ideas: Relationship motives are the most important; infancy and primitive psychopathology are not analogous, and phantasy is not the primary form of infant psychic structure; theories about the body should be located in lived experience of the body, rather than experience-distance instinctual-psychic energies; progressive development is central; there are substantial continuities between early and later development; findings from extraanalytic disciplines are relevant for psychoanalysis.