Beatrice Beebe, Phyllis Cohen, K. Mark Sossin and Sara Markese, „Mothers, Infants and Young Children of September 11, 2001. A Primary Prevention Project”, Routledge, February 2012

The group of papers presented in this volume represents ten years of involvement of a group of eight core therapists, working originally with approximately forty families who suffered the loss of husbands and fathers on September 11, 2001. The project focuses on the families of women who were pregnant and widowed in the disaster, or of women who were widowed with an infant born in the previous year.

This book maps the support and services provided without cost to the families by the primary prevention project – the ‘September 11, 2001 Mothers, Infants and Young Children Project’ – organised by a highly trained group of therapists specialising in adult, child, mother-infant and family treatment, as well as in nonverbal communication. The demands of the crisis led these therapists to expand on their psychoanalytic training, fostering new approaches to meeting the needs of these families. They sought out these families, offering support groups for mothers and their infants and young children in the mothers’ own neighbourhoods. They also brought the families to mother-child videotaped play sessions at the New York State Psychiatric Institute at Columbia University, followed by video feedback and consultation sessions.

In 2011, marking the 10th anniversary of the World Trade Center tragedy, the Project continues to provide services without cost for these mothers who lost their husbands, for their infants who are now approximately ten years old, and for the siblings of these children.

This book was originally published as a special issue of the Journal of Infant, Child, and Adolescent Psychotherapy.

Table of Contents

Foreword Beatrice Beebe, Phyllis Cohen, K. Mark Sossin, Anni Bergman, Sally Moskowitz, Rita Reiswig, Suzi Tortora, Donna Demetri Friedman Introduction: Mothers, Infants, and Young Children of September 11, 2001: A Primary Prevention Project Beatrice Beebe PART I: THE PROJECT 1. Description of the Project: A Longitudinal Primary Prevention Project for Mothers Pregnant and Widowed in the World Trade Center Tragedy of September 11, 2001, and Their Young Children Beatrice Beebe and Joseph Jaffe 2. Theory and Research That Informed the Clinical Approach of the Project for Mothers, Infants, and Young Children of September 11, 2001 Beatrice Beebe and Sara Markese 3. The Evolution of the Project: Helping the Mothers, Infants and Young Children of September 11, 2001 Phyllis Cohen 4. The Mothers’ Experiences of the Project Mothers of the Project, Anonymous PART II: MOTHERS AND CHILDREN IN THE EARLY YEARS OF THE SUPPORT GROUPS 5. Introduction to the Support Groups K. Mark Sossin 6. Early Years of Support Group I: Three Therapists’ Views Anni Bergman, Sally Moskowitz and Donna Demetri Friedman 7. Support Group II: An Evolving Approach: Reflections on Group Process in the Early Years K. Mark Sossin 8. Support Group II: Maternal Representation of the Lost Father Rita Reiswig PART III: THEMES ARISING FROM THE SUPPORT GROUPS 9. Primary Maternal Preoccupation Disrupted by Trauma and Loss: Early Years of the Project Sally Moskowitz 10. Creating Space for Mourning a Lost Father and Husband After September 11: A Therapist’s Reflections Rita Reiswig PART IV: MOTHERS AND CHILDREN IN THE VIDEO LABORATORY CONTEXT 11. Beyond the Face and Words: How the Body Speaks Suzi Tortora 12. Children’s Play in the Wake of Loss and Trauma K. Mark Sossin and Phyllis Cohen PART V: THE FEEDBACK SESSIONS 13. Video Feedback and the Impact of Multiple Therapists Phyllis Cohen PART VI: MOTHER-CHILD TREATMENT WITH A TEAM APPROACH 14. The Team Approach to the Treatment of a Traumatized Mother and Child: Christina and Bobby Anni Bergman and Andrea Remez 15. The Team Approach to the Treatment of a Traumatized Mother and Child: Lydia and Ryan Anni Bergman, with sections by K. Mark Sossin, Suzi Tortora, Lydia (Ryan’s mother), Phyllis Cohen and Beatrice Beebe PART VII: THE THERAPISTS’ PROCESS 16. The Therapist Group: A Transformational Process Beatrice Beebe, Phyllis Cohen, Anni Bergman, Sally Moskowitz, K. Mark Sossin, Rita Reiswig, Suzi Tortora and Donna Demetri Friedman PART VIII: PERSPECTIVES ON EARLY TRAUMA – NEUROPSYCHOLOGICAL AND CLINICAL LITERATURE 17. Prenatal Maternal Stress and the Developing Fetus and Infant: A Review of Animal Models as Related to Human Research Adrianne Lange 18. Dyadic Trauma in Infancy and Early Childhood: Review of the Literature Sara Markese PART IX: COMMENTARY 19. The Strength of Relationships in the Face of Trauma From Terror Marsha Kaitz Project Conclusion Phyllis Cohen

Author/Editor Biography

Beatrice Beebe is a psychologist, psychoanalyst, mother-infant therapist, and researcher in mother-infant communication at the New York State Psychiatric Institute at Columbia University, USA. She teaches at several psychoanalytic institutes in New York City.

Phyllis Cohen is a psychologist, psychoanalyst, child and adolescent therapist, and couples therapist. She teaches child, adolescent and couples therapy at several psychoanalytic institutes and at New York University Postdoctoral Program, USA.

K. Mark Sossin is a psychologist, psychoanalyst, and Professor of Psychology at Pace University, USA. His ongoing research focuses on infant-parent interaction, transmission of stress, autism, nonverbal/movement behavior, and early childhood affective development.

Sara Markese is a clinical psychologist specializing in the treatment of trauma in early childhood and practices in Alexandria, Virginia, USA. She is a former Postdoctoral Fellow, and current research collaborator with Dr. Beebe, in the Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry at the New York State Psychiatric Institute at Columbia University.