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The Talking Child Development podcast unpacks important topics and conversations related to child and family development. Every episode aims to provide mental health professionals with insights into family life based on theory and experience in the field. Join Dr Ruth Schmidt Neven as she interviews experts including paediatricians, early childhood educators, child psychotherapists and infant-parent therapists. From communication to attachment, we dive into the ‘why’ behind relationships and behaviour. This podcast is brought to you by the Association of Child and Family Development and Psychodynamic Counselling.
The Talking Child Development podcast unpacks important topics and conversations related to child and family development. Every episode aims to provide mental health professionals with insights into family life based on theory and experience in the field. Join Dr Ruth Schmidt Neven as she interviews experts including paediatricians, early childhood educators, child psychotherapists and infant-parent therapists. From communication to attachment, we dive into the ‘why’ behind relationships and behaviour. This podcast is brought to you by the Association of Child and Family Development and Psychodynamic Counselling.
Episodes

Tuesday Mar 17, 2026
#32 It’s not Just Child’s Play with Dr. Jenifer Wakelyn
Tuesday Mar 17, 2026
Tuesday Mar 17, 2026
In this episode, Child and Adolescent Psychotherapist and Clinical Psychologist Dr Ruth Schmidt Neven talks with Dr. Jenifer Wakelyn child and adolescent psychotherapist, author and researcher in the UK. She is the founder of the innovative program Watch me Play! This is an intervention for caregivers and their babies and young children that with the support of a practitioner aims to enhance child development and caregiver relationships by promoting thoughtful individual attention and age-appropriate stimulation. The Watch me Play approach has been manualised and is disseminated across the UK and internationally.
References:
watchmeplay.info
Book chapter: Wakelyn, J. (2019) ‘Developing an intervention for infants and young children in care: Watch Me Play!’ In: Supporting Vulnerable Babies and Young Children, edited by Wendy Bunston and Sarah Jones (Jessica Kingsley).
Book: Wakelyn, J. (2020) Therapeutic Approaches with Babies and Young Children in Care: Observation and Attention (Karnac/Routledge). ISBN 978-1-782-20438-1
Recent paper: Wakelyn, J. (2025) Psychoanalytic aspects of the Watch Me Play! approach: the psychic energy of attention, Infant Observation, DOI:10.1080/13698036.2025.2471778

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