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Infant and Toddler Mental Health Summer Institute. A summary report. What was it?. Partnership with IAITMH, Sunny Start and Department of Mental Health Intense training opportunity Three sessions over a five day period Networking opportunity
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Infant and Toddler Mental Health Summer Institute A summary report
What was it? • Partnership with IAITMH, Sunny Start and Department of Mental Health • Intense training opportunity • Three sessions over a five day period • Networking opportunity • Goal was to reach out to more mental health professionals and therefore increase the workforce capacity/ resources for families
Session One – July 9 • Mental Health Diagnosis in Young Children with Janice Katz, PhD • ½ day session • Highlighted diagnostic criteria in the DC 0-3 • Participants received a copy of DC: 0-3R • CANS 0-5 with Stacey Ryan, LCSW • ½ day session • Highlighted the CANS tool and its use in Indiana
Session Two – July 10-11 • Interaction Guidance (IG): Dyadic Treatment for High Risk Families with Susan McDonough, PhD • IG is a structured format based on systems theory along with infant mental health concepts. Videotape is used to support change in parent-child interactions • IG is an evidenced-based intervention strategy • Each participant received a copy of Treating Parent-Infant Relationship Problems
Session Three – July 12-13 • Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT) for High Risk Parents with Janet Dean, LCSW • DBT is an evidence-based treatment for individuals with personality problems, characterized by low reflective functioning, difficulty with self-regulation, and reduced tolerance for stress • Each participant received a copy of Early Intervention with Multi-Risk Families
Participant Data • Total 75 participants over the five days • Session 1 – 50 total participants • Session 2 – 52 total participants • Session 3 – 41 total participants • 27 participated in all five days of the institute • 22 different centers/organizations represented • 26 different communities represented
Evaluation CommentsSession One • Now I know what to do for early mental health assessments that DCS asks me to do. Also, our facility is now using the CANS for all our child intakes. • I plan to start using the DC: 0-3 diagnostic criteria and crosswalk with my reports and treatment with infants and toddlers.
Evaluation CommentsSession Two • I will be less clinical. I love the way this is strength based and goes where the client is. This gave me permissive to focus more on the client: less on the illness. • I will increase my practice age range. • I really want to try the video thing and I plan to be more observant and make snap shots of the positive things parents and children are doing to build better relationship. • Because of this training will feel more comfortable serving younger children. Prior to this session would not have considered seeing 0-2 year old. • Learned a lot about use of self
Evaluation CommentsSession Three • I'll be much more mindful and less intense. • Will work more with infant ages (0-3). • I would like to try to be more aware of structure, being in the moment, less focused on change. • I will begin to develop services for Infant toddler mental health in my community mental health center.
What We Learned • Participants appreciated attention and focus on learning environment and materials • Providers want to serve this population • Providers want more information to successful partner with children and famiilies • Useful techniques for infant and toddler mental health interventions
Why a Relationship Approach? • Infant behavior cannot be viewed apart from the child’s relationships • During infancy the most important relationships are with the primary caregivers • Caregivers have relationships with their social context; extended family, friends, cultural and spiritual networks
Origins of Interaction Guidance • Created specifically for families who were not successfully engaged in mental health treatment or refused referral • Incorporated principles of family systems and dynamic theory, the use of video technology and brief psychotherapy practice to address parent-infant relationship problems
How we can partner with families who don’t want our help • Listen to how others have treated them without trying to explain, clarify, defend, or instruct • Acknowledge and legitimize their feelings of betrayal, mistrust and disappointments • Ask, rather than assume, that they believe you can be helpful
Where to Begin? Therapeutic “Port of Entry” Treatment approach matches Family’s needs & capabilities at this point in their family life cycle
Interaction Guidance • Relationship focused • Interaction as: • Early focus of intervention • Reflection of representation • Egalitarian therapeutic relationship • Replay and reflection of interactions inviting alternative family perspective • Time-limited “piece of work” with follow-up and referrals
Why pay attention to family and relationship? • Insights from the field of neurodevelopment: • Bruce Perry • “There is no more effective neurobiological intervention than a safe relationship.” • “It changes the brain.”
Three Important Discoveries • Safety in relationship precedes the ability to… • Be reflective; which precedes the ability to… • Be Flexibly Responsive to one’s situation and environment
Therapeutic approaches facilitate: • Integration • Acceptance • Safety • Working with resistance/ambivalence • Change • Reflective functioning
About “change” • Any theory of change must incorporate: • Establishment of safe and trusting relationship • Gain new information and experience across domains of cognition, emotion, sensation, and behavior • The simultaneous or alternating activation of neural networks that are not integrated or dissociated
About change: There’s more… • Moderate levels of emotional arousal alternating with periods of calm and safety • The integration of conceptual knowledge with emotional and sensory experience through narratives that are co-constructed with the therapist • Skills to help continue integration outside of the therapeutic relationship
What’s next? • Create a listserv to foster communication among those who attended the Institute • The Social and Emotional Training and Technical Assistance Committee is surveying providers to learn what training is currently available that addresses identified competencies • Review of data to identify needs • Develop plan to address training needs to further expand early childhood mental health resources