ABSTRACT
This chapter examines the infant’s competences and describes “the therapeutic space” that is created in the therapeutic situation. T. Berry Brazelton has been a pioneer in conveying the understanding of infants as unique and independent individuals who contribute actively to their own development and their relations to their surroundings. The Brazelton Scale was originally developed in 1973 at Harvard University in Boston as a method for observing infants under two months of age. The principle of the Brazelton Scale is that the baby’s behavioural repertoire should always be assessed in relation to the current state, and that the professional should attempt to determine what the baby is capable of under optimal conditions. The Brazelton Scale also has therapeutic uses in connection with difficulties during the first month of life. In the therapeutic space the child is allowed to be himself without being met with the usual expectations and demands.
