Angels in the Nursery: The Intergenerational Transmission of Benevolent Parental Influences.
Lieberman, A.F., Padron, E., Van Horn, P., & Harris W.W. Infant Mental Health Journal, 2005. Vol 26(6): 504-520
This paper by Alicia Lieberman explores a concept originally described by Selma Fraiberg in 1975 and used by infant mental health therapists today. ‘Angels’ refer to warmth and protection parents may have experienced from caregivers during their own infancy (the ‘nursery’) and how these feelings can be harnessed to help these parents foster loving relationships with their children, thereby preventing the inadvertent repetition of negative or aggressive interactions.