Books by Ilene S. Lefcourt
When Mothers Talk
Magical Moments and Everyday Challenges from Birth to Three Years
When Mothers Talk (2024) is an intimate book about early child development and motherhood which offers practical information that rarely gets talked about. Ilene Lefcourt sensitively links mothers’ childhood memories with current mother-child interactions and describes mothers’ unfolding insights. Vivid examples of mothers’ memories, with hidden answers to typical questions and concerns, trigger the reader’s own memories, self-reflection, and new ideas. Featured throughout the book are self-reflective questions to evoke childhood memories.
Available for purchase at Amazon and Barnes & Noble and Routledge.
“When Mothers Talk is an opportunity for every mother to take a journey with this exceptional expert leader.”
Nadia Bruschweiler-Stern, M.D. Pediatrician and Child Psychiatrist, University Hospital of Geneva, Swiss Brazelton Center; Author, The Birth of A Mother
“An insightful journey of self-discovery that embodies the wisdom of mothers’ reflections and the developing mind of babies and toddlers.”
Alicia F. Lieberman, Ph.D. Professor, University of California San Francisco; Irving B. Harris Chair in Infant Mental Health; Author, The Emotional Life of the Toddler
“Ilene Lefcourt integrates decades of scientific research with her extraordinary empathic imagination.”
Susan Coates, Ph.D. Clinical Professor Medical Psychology Columbia University. Faculty, Columbia University Center for Psychoanalytic Training and Research; Author, September 11: Trauma and Human Bonds
“A pioneer in the field of 0 to 3, Ilene Lefcourt synthesis a huge body of literature on memory, theory of mind, infant development, and intersubjectivity into a beautifully written guide to the minds of babies and their mothers…”
Susan Scheftel, Ph.D. faculty, assistant clinical professor of Medical Psychology in Psychiatry Columbia Psychanalytic Center for Training and Research.
Mother-Baby-Toddler Group Guide
A Psychodynamic Approach
The Mother-Baby-Toddler Group Guide (2023) is a handbook for leading groups, teaching child development, and providing early intervention. The guidelines provide a detailed psychodynamic approach to resolve typical developmental and mothering difficulties that arise during the first three years of life. Difficulties are resolved before they become entrenched and escalate into disorders. This is the first psychodynamic group guide to extend the infant mental health focus on treatment, to include prevention.
Available for purchase at Amazon and Barnes & Noble and Routledge.
From the forward: “This extremely clear, and richly illustrated guide captures the details and psychodynamic principles at the core of infant mental health efforts today.”
Daniel Schechter, M.D. Director, Perinatal and Early Childhood Ambulator Care and Research, Department of Psychiatry, Lausanne University Hospital, Switzerland
“This Guide derives much of its power from the wealth of narratives describing the way the group-leader recruits mothers’ memories from their own childhoods to give meaning to current problems with their babies and toddlers.”
Alexandra Harrison, MD, Training and supervising Analyst, Boston Psychoanalytic Society and Institute; Assistant Professor of Psychiatry, Harvard Medical School. Founder, Supporting Child Caregivers - Infant-parent mental health training non-profit throughout the world
"This thoughtful guide embodies the author’s profound understanding of mother-child relationships in the critical first three years of life."
Tessa Baradon, Parent-Infant Project, Anna Freud Centre; Co-Director International Training School for Infancy and Early Years
“The Mother-Baby-Toddler Group Guide offers depth and nuance as it powerfully weaves together many ideas about fostering resilience in mothers, babies, and toddlers.”
Rita Reiswig co-director, The Anni Bergman Parent-Infant Program, NYC
Parenting and Childhood Memories
A Psychoanalytic Approach to Reverberating Ghosts and Magic
Parenting and Childhood Memories (2021) is a collection of stories about the ways in which parents’ childhood memories influence their current interactions with their babies and young children: the ghosts and magic of our minds. This book explores the underlying meanings of parents’ memories and the everyday life stresses of parenting. Ilene Lefcourt demonstrates that a parent’s ability to nurture a young child’s emotional development and resolve typical difficulties is promoted by uncovering the links between the parent’s past and the present.
Available for purchase at Amazon and Barnes & Noble and Routledge.
"Ilene Lefcourt gives us a highly original, lyrical book of parent-infant stories that beautifully illustrate how parents come to have deep empathy for their children and for themselves.”
Beatrice Beebe, Ph.D. Clinical Professor of Medical Psychology, Columbia University Medical Center; Author, The Mother-Infant Interaction Picture Book
“This book draws the reader in and enchants while at the same time illustrates essential ideas about the challenges infants, young children, and their parents face daily. Like fairytale classics, you will want to re-read it again and again.”
Daniel Schechter, M.D. Director, Perinatal and Early Childhood Ambulator Care and Research, Department of Psychiatry, Lausanne University Hospital, Switzerland
“Ilene Lefcourt’s nuanced case reports offer illuminating examples of our current scientific understanding of how memory is interpersonally co-constructed, and how it develops and transforms.”
Susan Coates, Ph.D. Clinical Professor Medical Psychology Columbia University. Faculty, Columbia University Center for Psychoanalytic Training and Research; Author, September 11: Trauma and Human Bonds
“This book is a gift to parents, mental health clinicians, and everyone interested in how we become who we are.”
Alicia F. Lieberman, Ph.D. Professor, University of California San Francisco; Irving B. Harris Chair in Infant Mental Health; Author, The Emotional Life of the Toddler; Angels in the Nursery