Course Objectives

• Gain a clear and deep understanding of fundamental theories of Infant Mental Health, Attachment Theory, and Social/Emotional/Attachment Development for children 0-3 years old.
• Gain exposure and practice in working from an Infant and Early Childhood Mental Health perspective when serving children 0-6 years old with their parent/caregiver.
• Engage in the practice of self-reflection and awareness in order to notice countertransferential issues and one’s own “ghost from the nursery” (Fraiberg) that arise when working with children 0-6 years old and their caregivers.
• Meets multiple training competencies for the New York State Association for Infant Mental Health Endorsement.

Rationale

New York State, and the Rochester area specifically are experiencing an increased valuing of and demand for Infant Mental Health specialists in all disciplines. Fortunately, The New York State Association for Infant Mental Health’s joined the national trend by adopting The Alliance for the Advancement of Infant Mental Health’s Endorsement for Culturally Sensitive, Relationship Focused Practice Promoting Infant and Early Childhood Mental Health®. The Endorsement® system is the premiere, global effort that identifies best practice competencies across disciplines and settings, offering multiple career pathways for professional development in the infant, early childhood and family field. This course aims to meet many of the training competency criteria for the New York State Infant Mental Health Endorsement of 30 hours of Infant Mental Health training and will allow professionals to pursue this post-degree specialization and credential; a specialization and credential in high demand in the Rochester area with 1,000’s of children 0-3 years old and their parents impacted by Adverse Childhood Experiences.

Please visit nysaimh.org for further details about the trajectory of Infant Mental Health across the state and the Endorsement process.

Participants

This course is applicable for professionals and current students with a strong curiosity, interest and possible current practice in working with parents and infants/young children from a deep, clinical perspective. Additionally, clinicians and professionals may be interested in taking this course in order to be prepared for the NY State Infant Mental Health Endorsement that will be rostering Infant Mental Health Specialists from multiple disciplines, adding to qualified and well-trained professionals in our community. Finally, professionals who work as leaders, advocates, and policymakers in infant and young child serving professions will find this training useful in embedding best practices in their particular disciplines and organizations. These disciplines, fields, and professions include nurses, child-life specialists, social workers, occupational therapists, physical therapists, speech therapists, policymakers, physicians, home visiting professionals, therapists, clinical supervisors, child welfare, attorneys for children, early childhood educators, and program directors.

Coursework Details

This course focuses on attachment theory, Infant Mental Health, Social-Emotional Development of children 0-6 years old, the impact of Adverse Childhood Experiences, in particular, trauma and attachment disruptions, assessment, and diagnosis of the parent-infant relationship and the social-emotional and attachment health of the infant.

Weatherston (2000) highlights the tenets of Infant Mental Health that are guideposts for this course:

1. Optimal growth and development occur within nurturing relationships.
2. The birth and care of a baby offer a family the possibility of new relationships, growth and change.
3. What happens in the early years affects the course of development across the life span.
4. Early developing attachment relationships may be distorted or disturbed by parental histories of unresolved losses and traumatic life events (“ghosts in the nursery”)
5. The therapeutic presence of an Infant Mental Health specialist may reduce the risk of relationship failure and offer the hopefulness of warm and nurturing parental responses.
6. An additional guidepost from Stroud (2021) is: Family culture is present in all caregiving interactions.

Cost

SPCC has a deep commitment to building the IECMH capacity in our region and community. Our IECMH 11 session training cost is valued at $1200 per participant. Some spots are available at no cost to local participants through generous grant funding. Please e-mail us at maryellen@spcc-roch.org to discuss scholarships, group rates, or other fee structures.

Schedule of Offered Trainings

This 11 session training is typically offered three times per year in Spring, Summer and Fall.  The training offers 16.5 hours of face to face training and includes approximately 6 hours of independent learning (e.g. assigned readings, learning exercises) outside of meeting times. Please note that Continuing Education Credits are not available for readings and learning activities.  Continuing Education Credits are offered for LMSW, LCSW, LMHC and LCAT licensures.

SPCC’s Infant Mental Health Training^© covers aspects of the following NYS Association for Infant Mental Health Endorsement^® Competencies:

Theoretical Foundations

Law, Regulation & Policy

Systems Expertise

Direct Service Skills

Working with Others

Communicating 

Thinking

Reflection