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Early Relationships Matter! November 2011 |
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Quick Links: Join Us in Celebrating 10 Years!!! Strengthening Early Relationships through Mental Health Consultation BBC Investigates Child Death Due to Abuse and Neglect in the US Reflections from WI-AIMH's Intern National Children's Mental Health Report Card Ask the Expert Upcoming Events Resources Newsletter Submissions |
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Join Us in Celebrating 10 Years!
In honor of our 10 year anniversary, on December 14th WI-AIMH is hosting a luncheon with Marti Erickson presenting: "A Look in the Mirror: Reflecting on Our Own Roles in Making Sure Babies and Young Children have the Early Relationships They Need." Click here to learn more and to print your RSVP! Registration deadline is December 6th. |
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Strengthening Early Relationships through Mental Health Consultation
By: Kevin O'Brien, LMFT, LCSW
“It takes a village to
raise a child” is an oft-repeated African proverb.
Babies grow to be toddlers and then preschoolers within a web
of interconnected relationships.
These relationships make up the unique “ecology” within which
babies develop. Our
experience has led us to believe that there should also be a proverb
that says “It takes a baby to raise a village.”
With the birth of every baby, parents, grandparents and
others have a chance at a psychological rebirth.
The vulnerability of infants pulls adults out of their old
habits to further learn and grow as human beings in order to make
the world safe and healthy for new life to flourish.
The following story illustrates the ecological approach to
mental health consultation in action, as the consultant worked to
strengthen the whole web of relationships in order to create more
room for a baby to grow up healthy and strong.
The consultant, Paula
Mytton, was called
upon to help a home visiting team (An Delaney, a public health nurse
and Andrea Alfke, a social worker)
from Empowering Families Milwaukee to serve a family they had been working with over the past year.
They were concerned with a problem that was repeating itself
at each visit to the family of a 10 month old baby.
Whenever either the nurse or social worker got close to the
baby, she would scream and cry intensely.
This meant that they were unable to perform their usual
assessments with the baby, such as weighing her or measuring her
growth. When this
happened, the baby’s mother became increasingly anxious, leading her
to doubt the helpfulness of the home visitation program for her
family. The consultant first met with the home visitation team. She listened to their concerns, including how badly they felt about "causing" so much distress for the baby and her family. They were an effective team with many other families, and so were very concerned with why they could not be more helpful to this mom and baby. Along with reassuring them about their competence and reminding them of the progress they had made with the family, she began to make a preliminary plan to accompany them to the next visit At the first visit with Paula, the baby again began to cry loudly when any of the three people approached her, and the mother picked the baby up to hold her on her lap. This time, as they were talking with mom, instead of completely backing off, the consultant invited the mother to place the baby on the couch next to the mother. Paula began to look for ways to gradually approach the baby in gentle and familiar ways - first with a toy, then with a bottle. She tried to touch the baby gently with her finger, but the baby let her know she wasn't yet ready for that by moving Paula's hand away. But the baby was not crying this time. The consultant began coaching the nurse and social worker about modifying their timing, relaxing their own bodies, and finding ways to transition from more to less familiar objects She then began to initiate a game with the baby - "I am drinking from the bottle, too!" As she would pretend to hold the bottle up to her mouth and drink, the baby began to smile, and all of the grown ups began to laugh - including the babies mother. Finally, everyone was beginning to relax. Now the consultant could initiate some gentle physical contact with the baby, and using gradual pacing, to bring the other home visitors into the interaction with her. Making a circle around the baby, all the adults played the "I'm drinking your bottle" game, with the baby very much engaged in watching the adults be silly and playful. The baby eventually moved to the floor to play, and by the end of the visit was scooting around the house as she normally does when there is no company. Over the next two visits, Paula worked to engage both the mother and the five year old sister in the interaction more. Picking up on the lessons learned from a previous visit, the nurse was able to eventually complete her physical assessment of the infant. She accomplished this by starting the "exam" on the child's Elmo toy, and then introducing the instruments of the exam gradually to the child. After the consultant complimented the exceptional sensitivity of the mother to her baby, the mother acknowledged "I'm not like that all the time." As she began to open up more about her struggles with maintaining her composure when parenting, she also began to talk about the extremely stressful childhood she endured. She also was ready to disclose the domestic violence that she had experienced, and which her children had witnessed. She wanted very much to create a different life for her children. By the end of the third visit, both children were fully engaged with the nurse, and mother announced that she had made an appointment to begin therapy at the same clinic that she had previously taken her five-year-old child. Now that the relationship between the home visiting team was back on solid foundations, the consultant could return to a more indirect role of supporting the workers as they felt necessary. Keeping the child as the central focus of her intervention, Paula worked with this baby's "village" to open up new possibilities for growth and development. And each member of this child's "village" grew to make room for those new possibilities to flourish. |
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BBC Investigates Child Death Due
to Abuse and Neglect in the United States
T o
1. BBC, "America's Child Death Shame"; 2. BBC, "America's Child Death Shame" |
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Reflections from WI-AIMH's Intern By: Karissa Propson After four years and an almost completed degree majoring in Human Development & Family Studies and Psychology at the University of Wisconsin, I felt mostly prepared for my internship with the Wisconsin Alliance for Infant Mental Health. There was, however, one small problem: I had never heard the phrase "Infant Mental Health." I had learned about infants in child development classes and mental health in psychology classes, but had never thought of putting those two concepts together. Fortunately for me, my education in Infant Mental Health began at the source with some of the best in the field.
Now, halfway through the semester, I am overwhelmed by knowing what I never knew before-and how very important this knowledge is. I have learned about direct service, policy, prevention programs, funding, and much, much more; but the most important thing I have learned happens to be WI-AIMH's motto: Early Relationships Matter. I had never thought of infants' social and emotional well-being beyond simple attachment processes and I had certainly never pondered the deep impact of early relationships on young children. As a society, I think we tend to view infancy and perhaps even toddlerhood as a time when children are relatively clueless about the world. We spell out words over the heads of children so they won't be affected by what we've said and we operate on the assumption that babies don't understand the subtle intricacies through which we, adults, communicate. But spend a few weeks at WI-AIMH, and you will realize that we have underestimated the perceptions and capabilities of infants. They are extremely sensitive, observant, and responsive to the way they are treated. This is precisely why early relationships matter so much.
Most of us can agree that children are our future, so it's important to understand what foundations we are laying for their later development and well-being. We are responsible for this future and we must invest in children, and their families, and we must invest well. It is society's task-not just parents, child care workers, and teachers-but all of us, to support children's healthy social and emotional development. For children to experience and regulate emotions, form secure relationships, and explore the environment, as well as set the stage for later learning, it is critical that we provide a supportive context for this development to occur. This context is within the boundaries of early relationships in many ways: policy work, prevention, intervention, treatment, support, or simply supporting people and agencies that carry out such work.
I'd like to think that I now have a handle on what Infant Mental Health means, but there is certainly much more to learn. In two short months, I can truly say that my ideas about infants, parents, and the role of society have dramatically shifted in favor of our youngest citizens. However, I wonder why this was my first experience with Infant Mental Health. Why had I, a student of human development and Psychology, never been exposed to something so profoundly valuable? I am unsure of the reason, but, fortunately for me, I know now. And that is knowledge that I can truly use, share, and spread. |
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National Children's Mental Health Report Card A measure of concerned parents and struggling kids A new national survey of 1,000 adults with children commissioned by the Child Mind Institute investigated parents' awareness of and concerns about psychiatric and learning issues in their children. |
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Ask the expert Do you have questions or concerns regarding social-emotional development or your work related to infants, young children and their families? Ask the expert! E-mail jhack@wiaimh.org with your questions related to infant mental health policy, research, practice or resources. We may edit questions for space and clarity for inclusion in this newsletter and on our Web site. Names will be used only with permission. For more information and to see an archive of previous questions, see: http://www.wiaimh.org/ask_the_expert.htm. |
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Upcoming events
Infant Massage
Through the Eyes of a Child: A Multi-Disciplinary Approach to Child
Advocacy
"Hello, My Name Is" -
Creating a Child's Individual Profile from a Child's Perspective
Children
Come First
Building Strong Systems of Support for Young Children's Mental
Health
ZERO TO THREE National Training Institute
Celebrating 10 Years!
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Resources
The Whole-Brain Child by Daniel J. Siegel, M.D. and Tina
Payne Bryson, Ph.D. “Your toddler throws a tantrum in
the middle of a store. Your preschooler refuses to get dressed. Your
fifth-grader sulks on the bench instead of playing on the field. Do
children conspire to make their parents’ lives endlessly
challenging? No—it’s just their developing brain calling the shots!
In this pioneering, practical book, Daniel J. Siegel,
neuropsychiatrist and author of the bestselling book Mindsight, and
parenting expert Tina Payne Bryson demystify the meltdowns and
aggravation, explaining the new science of how a child’s brain is
wired and how it matures. The “upstairs brain,” which makes
decisions and balances emotions, is under construction until the
mid-twenties. And especially in young children, the right brain and
its emotions tend to rule over the logic of the left brain. No
wonder kids can seem—and feel—so out of control. By applying these
discoveries to everyday parenting, you can turn any outburst,
argument, or fear into a chance to integrate your child’s brain and
foster vital growth.”
Child Maltreatment Prevention: Past, Present, and Future from the
Child Welfare Information Gateway
Learning About Your Child and Yourself: An Interactive Workshop
Series for Parents of Children with Developmental Delays
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WI-AIMH
welcomes submissions for publication in this newsletter. Our staff
will review and select articles based on the suitability and
timeliness of the subject matter presented. Articles on activities
related to infant mental health in various Wisconsin communities, as
well as policy updates, especially are welcome. If you have
something to contribute, please call (608) 442-0360 or e-mail
admin@wiaimh.org. |
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