Infant Mental Health: So What? Who Cares? Should I Get Endorsed?

Infant Mental Health is a growing field of research and practice aimed at promoting early childhood social emotional development through high quality relationships. Relationships are the “active ingredient” in the environments influence on early brain growth. Infant Mental Health practice promotes the optimal development of infants and very young children through enhanced infant-caregiver interactions. In this presentation, the key principles of Infant Mental Health will be reviewed. In addition, this session will describe the Infant Mental Health Endorsement which serves to ensure that professionals working with very young children and their families have attained expertise and mastery of best-practices for enhancing developmental outcomes through dyadic work.

Dr. Robert Gallen, University of Pittsburgh