What is Infant and Early Childhood Mental Health?
Infant and Early Childhood Mental Health is the developing capacity of the infant/young child to form close and secure relationships, experience, manage, and express a full range of emotions, explore the environment, and learn—all in the context of family, community, and culture.
But despite trending conversations about our emotional well-being, the mental health of our youngest citizens is largely ignored or misunderstood. As a baby grows through infancy, toddlerhood, and the preschool years, each experience—positive or negative—becomes a building block for their future wellness. We hope to work with young people and their families to build a strong foundation, develop language for the landscape of emotions, and encourage transparent and flexible parenting strategies.
The services we offer:
DC 0-5 assessments: The Diagnostic Classification of Mental Health and Developmental Disorders of Infancy and Early Childhood (DC: 0-5) is an age-appropriate approach for assessing infants, toddlers, and preschool children. This tool classifies mental health and developmental disorders in children from birth through five years old, considered in relationship to their families, culture, and communities. The DC: 0-5 also can help to establish whether a child qualifies for early childhood intervention services, such as therapeutic preschool, individual therapy, and/or family therapy.
Circle of Security: Circle of Security is an approach designed to intervene early in children's mental health and prevent stress between caregivers and children by increasing their attachment, connection, and communication. The Circle of Security is a user-friendly map of child behavior and emotions. Using this map helps parents answer the questions:
“Why does my child behave that way?”
“What do they need?”
“How can I best help them grow up?”
The Circle of Security is based on 50 years of research. It is being used worldwide to help children be happier and more responsive to their parents, develop self-control, get along better with friends and teachers, and grow to be competent in adolescence and adulthood.
The Circle of Security can help parents find the key and unlock the mystery to difficult child behaviors, giving parents renewed feelings of success and confidence. This approach is designed as a class, however, it can also be used in family therapy, parent-child therapy and individual therapy.
Attachment Biobehavioral Catch-up (ABC): ABC is a 10-week intervention for infants and toddlers ages 6-24 months, taking place virtually or in person. ABC is an evidence-based practice that supports forming a secure attachment relationship between parents and children. Parents often become interested in ABC if they're struggling with their infant or toddler's temperament, feel frustrated towards or disconnected from their child, are concerned about their own mental health impacting parenting, or just want more support with parenting and the attachment relationship.
Play Therapy: Play therapy is to children what counseling is to adults. Play therapy utilizes play, children's natural medium of expression, to help them express their feelings more easily through toys instead of words.
Our Therapists who work with young people:
Ana Poole works with kids 0-5
LaKeya Rudolph works with kids 0-5 and teenagers
Seynab Hussein works with kids 5 and older
Jennah Al works with kids 7 and older
Sierra Ford-Washington works with kids 5 and older
Gloria Kranenburg works with kids 7 and older
Resources:
Zero to Thrive: zerotothrive.org
Zero to Three: https://www.zerotothree.org/
ABC website: abcparenting.org
Association of Play Therapy: https://www.a4pt.org/
Circle of Security: https://www.circleofsecurityinternational.com/