“Say What you See”: Using the NBO to Build Resilience

Dr. Harrison will discuss three reasons why the Newborn Behavioral Observation (NBO) is a natural choice as an intervention to build resilience. She will explain how the timing of the intervention, the focus on observing the baby, and the emphasis on strength instead of pathology, make the NBO a uniquely effective tool to support the relational well-being that is foundational to resilience. Her international work in low to middle income countries has anchored Dr. Harrison’s attention to the perinatal period as a means of protecting the child’s developing nervous system from the negative influence of adverse experiences. In the context of her travels, she has learned that the simple phrase “say what you see” has profound implications for building capacity in the caregiver as well as disciplining the practitioner to approach each family with generosity and an open mind. 

Dr. Harrison is Associate Professor of Psychiatry Part Time, Harvard Medical School at the Cambridge Health Alliance, Training and Supervising Analyst at the Boston Psychoanalytic Society and Institute in Adult and Child and Adolescent Psychoanalysis, and CEO of the nonprofit Supporting Child Caregivers. She developed a curriculum in perinatal mental health that she taught in the U.S., North India, Pakistan, and El Salvador, each time adapting it with local collaborators to fit the cultural context. Dr. Harrison has presented widely both nationally and internationally. She has received multiple awards in teaching and humanitarian activities. Her publications focus on developmental change in both psychodynamic psychotherapy and typical development.