You do everything you can to be an amazing parent, but nobody’s perfect. No matter how sensitive, attuned, and attentive you are, you and your child are bound to have some misunderstandings. Given that you are a human being, you might even make mistakes in your parenting. These moments are formally called “misattunements” (we call…

Susan takes her twelve-month-old, Jackie, to the park to play in the sand. Susan gets a phone call that distracts her from playing with Jackie. After a while, Jackie feels ignored, becomes fussy, and starts to cry. Susan gets off the phone quickly, but has a hard time calming Jackie. How can Susan make things…

Cori, J. L. (2010). The emotionally absent mother: A guide to self-healing and getting the love you missed. New York, NY: The Experiment. Tronick, E. & Beeghly, M. (2011). Infants’ meaning-making and the development of mental health problems. American psychologist, 66(2), 107-119. http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/a0021631 Winnicott, D.W. (1965). The maturational processes and the facilitating environment: Studies in…