Infant Observation Seminar Coordinator/Supervisor

Summary

The Association for Group and Individual Psychotherapy (AGIP)* is recruiting a seminar coordinator/supervisor for the Infant Observation group from October 2025 onwards. This involves a weekly supervision groups maximum of four students (there is flexibility as to the day and time).

The group will be online via Zoom and includes AGIP students who are undertaking the psychoanalytic psychotherapy course. The course is compulsory for trainees although they are able to choose when to take during their training.

An Infant Observation Course introduces aspects of development of the infant, and most importantly, the infant in relation to their primary caregivers. The course helps the trainees to develop observational skills, understand non-verbal communication and develop an analytic stance. The seminar coordinator’s role is to encourage the students to explore the dynamics between the infant and his mother and to think psychoanalytically about their observations. All students will be in their own personal therapy and have a personal tutor to support them. Some students may have already started working with training patients.

The Infant Observation Supervisor/Coordinator should be a qualified Child and Adolescent Psychotherapist with previous supervision experience.

Other requirements of the role

·       Introduce an online one-hour seminar to infant observation for Foundation year and first year clinical trainees to include the process and protocols involved in finding a parent and baby to observe as well as the history of infant observation within our profession.

·       To be involved with the recruitment of a second supervisor as the numbers of students increase.

·       Guide the students on their initial observation meeting.

·       Liaise with the Administrator to confirm receipt of Agreement Letter from the parents.

·       Report /Attend online Training Committee meetings once a term.

·       Students, as well as maintaining their written log for the entire year, must write a 5000-word essay within three months of completing their observation, this is treated as a formative assignment and is not given a pass or fail but will be marked within AGIP by a dedicated marker who will give feedback to the students and Training Committee.

·       Attend to all the observational requirements of the Infant Observational Handbook.

*The Association for Group and Individual Psychotherapy (AGIP) is a registered charity that was founded in 1974 and is a membership organisation providing a pluralistic and contemporary training in psychoanalytic psychotherapy. The AGIP clinical training is accredited by the UKCP and is within the College of Psychoanalysis and Jungian Analysis of UKCP.