Watch, Wait and Wonder

Domain I · Psychodynamic & depth psychology · Elisabeth Muir, Lojkasek, Cohen · 1992 · Toronto

What it is

Watch, Wait and Wonder (WWW) is a psychodynamic, attachment-based parent–infant psychotherapy. Its distinctive move is to make the infant's spontaneous activity the starting point of treatment, an idea the authors trace to Mahrer, Levinson & Fine (1976). Change is thought to come through two…

Format

• Format. One therapist works with one parent–child pair as an outpatient, weekly, about 1 hour per session. The research and most descriptions involve the mother as the parent. The treatment is manualised.
• The session template (core of every WWW session).

Who practises it, and how they are trained or regulated

• Session count. On average about 15 sessions. NHS Scotland lists 15 weekly sessions. Training cases run at least 8 sessions for the Advanced Course, with one supervised case of 18 or more. In the 1999 trial, length was set by clinical progress rather than fixed.
• Watch, Wait and Wonder (WWW) is a psychodynamic, attachment-based parent–infant psychotherapy. Its distinctive move is to make the infant's spontaneous activity the starting point of treatment, an idea the authors trace to Mahrer, Levinson & Fine (1976). Change is thought to come through two channels. (1) The infant's channel: a parent who is attentive and physically available but does not direct gives the child an…

Questions to explore with your client

• What drew you to it, and what are you hoping it will change?
• Is it a group, retreat or community? How do they respond if someone wants to leave or raises a concern?
• How do you and the practitioner understand what is happening, in spiritual or cultural terms? Is that a source of comfort, worry, or both?
• Does it use a device, heat, cold, water or a physical procedure? Has a medical professional checked that it is safe for you?
• Who runs it, and what training or registration do they hold?
• What actually happens in a session or meeting, and how often?
• What does it cost, and is there pressure to commit to more?
• How do you feel afterwards, in the hours and days that follow?
• Does it fit with, or clash with, the work we do here?

What practitioners of it watch for

• Too many toys or electronic toys that invite adults to demonstrate them. Phones and other distractions.
• Feedback turning into instruction ("next time do X"), which reintroduces the didactic stance WWW avoids.
• Hearing the instructions as criticism ("so I've been doing it wrong"). Frame the task as a way of looking, not a correction.
• Parents who use the switch to disengage from the child entirely. Notice it and, when it's useful, wonder about it with the parent.
• Siding with the child against the parent (or the reverse), urges to teach, and boredom or sleepiness that may mirror avoided states.

When to involve someone else

• New or worsening physical symptoms, or advice to stop or change prescribed medication: involve the client's doctor or prescriber.
• Signs of coercion, isolation from family and friends, escalating costs or secrecy: discuss openly and consider safeguarding.
• A crisis or thoughts of suicide: follow your crisis protocol. In the US, call or text 988; in the UK and Ireland, Samaritans on 116 123.

Drawn automatically from the guide's own sections. Stay curious: neither endorse nor dismiss what the client values, and check anything that matters against the full guide and its sources. Not medical advice.