When Mothers Talk: Magical Moments and Everyday Challenges from Birth to Three Years

When Mothers Talk is an intimate book about early child development and motherhood which offers an extraordinary view of the first three years of life and practical information that rarely gets talked about.

Ilene Lefcourt’s unique experience leading groups for over 35 years with mothers, their babies, and toddlers informs every page. Lefcourt sensitively links mothers’ childhood memories with current mother-child interactions, and exquisitely details 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. The narrative approach of When Mothers Talk speaks directly to the reader and activates an experience similar to being in a supportive mother-baby-toddler group.

Experienced and new mothers, infant mental health students, and experienced professionals will find this original book, grounded in long-established ideas, exceptionally informative and inspiring.

Ilene S. Lefcourt established the Sackler Lefcourt Center in 1982. She was the director, led the mother-baby-toddler groups, and provided developmental consultation to parents for over 35 years. She taught child psychiatry residents and parent-infant psychotherapy trainees about her work. She has been a faculty member at the Columbia University Center for Psychoanalytic Training and Research Parent-Infant Program since 1995. Ms. Lefcourt is currently in private practice in New York City. She is the author of Parenting and Childhood Memories: A Psychoanalytic Approach to Reverberating Ghosts and Magic and Mother-Baby-Toddler Group Guide: A Psychodynamic Approach.