Reviving ‘Amae’ and Intuitive Parenting in the Therapeutic Relationship：Being Available to the Baby-Parent Relational Capacity

Presented by Hisako Watanabe, M.D., Ph.D.

This webinar was presented live on August 5th, 2022. If you missed the webinar, you can view it here.

Webinar Presented by Hisako Watanabe, M.D., Ph.D.

Hisako Watanabe, M.D., Ph.D.

As our world becomes increasingly unpredictable, what inner resources can we mobilize to recreate a sustainable society?  Infancy is a rare and time-limited window into what Stern called “kairos” in interactions.  If we humbly open ourselves to the world of babies, they teach us about the joy of genuine anticipation of affection and respect from others.  I will introduce ‘Amae’, a Japanese mode of inter-dependency, where people silently cherish and retain the lived experiences of the blissful baby-mother reciprocity from early years. Babies teach us to find again how we as humans have survived, adapted and developed over the centuries.

Hisako Watanabe is a child psychiatrist in Japan, trained at the Tavistock Clinic, and has integrated Western transdisciplinary, neurobiological and psychodynamic approaches with Japanese concept of Amae. Since the Great East Japan Earthquake on March 2011, Watanabe has led supports to families in Fukushima, devastated by radiation contamination by the nuclear disaster. Watanabe continues to bring perspectives of Asian communities and other parts of the world to diversify the voices represented. One of her most recent work includes her outreach visit to Bangladesh, where she observed families being supported to use play, music and narratives to preserve their traditional culture.

Missed a previous webinar? Check out previous recordings here.