Resources on Infant Mental Health Specialist Training

Resources on Infant Mental Health Specialist Training

For more information about professional development and training as an Infant Mental Health  Specialist, explore the following resources listed as Articles and Publications or by Organization/Publisher. 

Articles and Publications

  • Center on the Social and Emotional Foundations of Early Learning http://csefel.vanderbilt.edu/ is focused on promoting the social emotional development and school readiness of young children birth to age 5. CSEFEL is a national resource center funded by the Office of Head Start and Child Care Bureau for disseminating research and evidence-based practices to early childhood programs across the country.
      • Research Synthesis:  Infant Mental Health and Early Care and Education Providers  answers some of the most frequently asked questions that early childhood providers have about Infant Mental Health (IMH) – early social and emotional development – and the IMH system. It also provides information about where to turn for additional information for promoting IMH when children and families are experiencing challenges. http://csefel.vanderbilt.edu/resources/research.
  • Early Head Start National Resource Center @ ZERO TO THREE www.ehsnrc.orgserves the Early Head Start community by creating new resources and sharing information related to the unique needs of infants, toddlers, and expectant families and EHS and Migrant and Seasonal Head Start Programs.
  • Erikson Institute http://www.erikson.edu/ is an independent institution of higher education that prepares child development and family service professionals for leadership. Through its academic programs, applied research, and community service and engagement, the graduate school in child development—works to improve the care and education of children age birth to eight. 
    • Creating a Workforce in Early Childhood Mental Health: Defining the Competent Specialist, Research Report, 2008 No.1.  J. Korfmacher and A. Hilado.   Herr Research Center for Children and Social Policy at Erikson Institute. Chicago, Illinois. This publication compares six sets of competencies, each developed by a group of professionals attempting to establish standards and training guidelines for providers within their particular states: Michigan, California, Vermont, Florida, Indiana, and Connecticut. The comparison across these six state systems focused on their purpose, structure, content, and implementation.
  • Michigan Association for Infant Mental Health, http://www.mi-aimh.org Through its members,  MI-AIMH is dedicated to examining and influencing the contexts within which infants develop the cognitive, neurobiological, social, and emotional functioning necessary for later life, including support, training, and advocacy for promotion/prevention/intervention services, research, education and public policy.
    • MI-AIMH Endorsement Competencies identifies competencies that have been identified by service providers and professionals as crucial for effective, culturally sensitive, relationship-based practice promoting infant mental health. http://www.mi-aimh.org/products/publications
    • MI-AIMH Endorsement (IMH-E®) offers professional endorsement to encourage competency and best practice in the infant and family field at multiple levels of service and across disciplines. http://www.mi-aimh.org/endorsement
  • University of California at San Francisco
    •  Infant-Parent Program is a multifaceted infant mental health program offering direct clinical services;  case-centered and programmatic consultation;  intensive professional training;  and local, state, national and international presentations and workshops.http://www.infantparentprogram.org/TrainingProgram.
  • University of Washington
    • The Irving Harris Program in Child Development and Infant Mental Health, offered through the Barnard Center for Infant Mental Health & Development is an advanced training graduate certificate program in infant mental health that  provides a foundation of knowledge and practical experience for clinical, consultation and leadership services in infant mental health http://www.cimhd.org/training.
  • WestEd Center for Prevention and Early Intervention www.wested.org/cpei provides nationally recognized training, technical assistance and resources for successful education, special education, early intervention, and child care.  WestEd CPEI was coordinator of California’s Infant, Preschool, and Family Mental Health Initiative, publishing useful resources related to infant mental health, professional development, and service design and delivery. 
    • Social and Emotional Well-Being: The Foundation for School Readiness (2006) was developed by Principal Authors: J. Pitcl and E. Provance, Contributing Author: C. Kerslake.  Available at www.wested.org/cpei This publication defines infant mental health, describes the efforts of California’s Infant Mental Health Development Project (IMHDP) promoting awareness of infant mental health concepts, highlighting approaches to services, and examining provider competencies, training, and support.
    • California Training Guidelines and Personnel Competencies for Infant-Family and Early Childhood Mental Health, Revised (February 23, 2010).  Created by the California Infant-Family and Early Childhood Mental Health (CIF&ECMH) Training Guidelines Workgroup, these guidelines provide a framework for programs and individuals interested in obtaining specialized training in infant-family and early childhood mental health. The manual presents the refined set of training guidelines and recommended competencies for core providers, infant-family and early childhood mental health specialists and reflective practice facilitators. Available at http://www.wested.org/cpei/forms/training-guidelines.pdf
  • ZERO TO THREE http://www.zerotothree.org/ is a national, nonprofit organization that informs, trains, and supports professionals, policymakers, and parents in their efforts to improve the lives of infants and toddlers.
    • Emerging issues in infant mental health from the Irving Harris Foundation
      Professional Development Network      . Zero to Three Journal, November 2012,
      Volume 33, No. 2. Washington, DC: ZERO TO THREE National Center for Infants
      and Toddlers. This issue offers a diverse collection of articles highlighting emerging
      issues in infant mental health and recognition of some of the latest work in the infnant
      mental health field. It features research, policy, and practice perspectives, including
      best practices in reflective practice, supervision, training, and leadership development
      http://www.zerotothree.org/zttjournal/index-listing/nov-12-ed-note-toc.pdf.
    • Infant mental health and Early Head Start: Lessons for early childhood programs. Bulletin of ZERO TO THREE August/September 2001, Volume 22, No. 1. Washington, DC: National Center for Infants, Toddlers, and Families. This single-focus bulletin is an outgrowth of the Head Start Forum on Infant Mental Health and offers research-based information about the mental health of very young children and their families; guidelines for practice; and strategies for building the organizational capacity to do this difficult work that applies to all programs serving young children and their families. http://main.zerotothree.org/site/DocServer/ZTT22-1_aug_sep_01.pdf?docID=7293
    • The Infant Mental Health Specialist, by D. J. Weatherston.  ZERO TO THREE, October/November 2000, Washington, DC: ZERO TO THREE. This article describes the beliefs, skills, and clinical strategies of the Infant Mental Health Specialist.   http://www.zerotothree.org/child-development/early-childhood-mental-health/vol21-2s.pdf
This product was developed [in part] under grant number 1H79SM082070-01 from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). The views, policies and opinions expressed are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect those of SAMHSA or HHS.