ABSTRACT
The inner world is where memories dwell: where wishes, fears, and ghosts reside. Attention to a child’s inner world is essential for healthy emotional development. Parents’ recognition and acknowledgment of the underlying meaning of behavior promotes the parent-child bond and the development of the child’s sense of self, impulse control, and the ability to regulate emotions. We may not know what a baby is thinking, but what we imagine informs our response and thereby contributes to the development of the baby’s mind. In this chapter, parent-child empathic interactions related to a child’s inner world in terms of language acquisition, pointing, limit setting, and narrative truth are described. The development of play and its meanings, a window into a child’s inner world, including beginning body play, play with objects, games of separation, mirror play, and pretend play to adapt to stressful events are illustrated. A story about a mother’s beginning doll-play that helped her 15-month-old daughter to feel safe when the mother’s frightening childhood memories were triggered is presented. A vignette that describes a mother’s insight about the meaning of her 2-year-old daughter’s hitting and her own denied childhood fears is included. Our collective inner worlds related to September 11th are discussed.
