Interpersonality in early childhood: Possibilities of an encounter with the other

Abstract

In this article, a theoretical proposition is formulated about the development of interpersonality in the first two years of life. Drawing on Jean Piaget’s accurate observations on this period of development, and adopting the theoretical framework of structural phenomenological psychopathology, a conception of structure in the early stages of formation will be expounded, centering on the experience of interpersonality. Also discussed are the differences between child and adult (the latter as a paradigm of the mature structure), as well as the manner whereby the recognition of the specificities of childhood experiences broadens the possibilities of perceiving pathological processes at this stage of life.