ALICIA F. LIEBERMAN QUOTES

author & educator

The most important emotional accomplishment of the toddler years is reconciling the urge to become competent and self-reliant with the longing for parental love and protection.

ALICIA F. LIEBERMAN

The Emotional Life of the Toddler


Loving parental care has unmatched transformational powers in restoring the child's developmental momentum in risk situations.

ALICIA F. LIEBERMAN & PATRICIA VAN HORN

Psychotherapy with Infants and Young Children: Repairing the Effects of Stress and Trauma on Early Attachment

Tags: love


The long-standing dichotomy between nature and nurture in explaining the etiology of mental health problems, while outdated and derided, continues to influence diagnosis and treatment. We are often the prisoners of our mental and disciplinary silos.

ALICIA F. LIEBERMAN & PATRICIA VAN HORN

Psychotherapy with Infants and Young Children: Repairing the Effects of Stress and Trauma on Early Attachment


Babies and young children thrive when they feel secure in their parents' care as they experiment with their bodies, relationships, and physical environment. When the child cannot feel safe because the parent is consistently unavailable, unpredictable, or frightening, the basic conditions that promote early mental health are severely undermined.

ALICIA F. LIEBERMAN & PATRICIA VAN HORN

Psychotherapy with Infants and Young Children: Repairing the Effects of Stress and Trauma on Early Attachment


Toddlerhood resembles adolescence because of the rapidity of physical growth and because of the impulse to break loose of parental boundaries. At both ages, the struggle for independence exists hand in hand with the often hidden wish to be contained and protected while striving to move forward in the world. How parents and toddlers negotiate their differences sets the stage for their ability to remain partners during childhood and through the rebellions of the teenage years.

ALICIA F. LIEBERMAN

The Emotional Life of the Toddler

Tags: teenagers


Toddlers who don't learn gradually about disappointment lose their resilience through lack of practice in give-and-take with other people's needs. They can become self-centered, demanding, and difficult to like or to be with.

ALICIA F. LIEBERMAN

The Emotional Life of the Toddler

Tags: disappointment


The child may feel strongly about his or her goals, but it is the parent who is raising the child and not vice versa. While retaining their empathy, adults need to achieve the self-confidence to have the last word when they are not being cruel or unreasonably arbitrary.

ALICIA F. LIEBERMAN

The Emotional Life of the Toddler