Beginning at the Beginning: The Foundational Elements of Early Childhood Mental Health Consultation – Part 3
TTAC was pleased to host an informative 3- part webinar series titled Beginning at the Beginning: Mental Health Consultation in Infant & Toddler Care presented by Kadija Johnston, LCSW. The webinar series highlighted that Early Childhood Mental Health Consultation (ECMHC) recognizes the centrality of the provider- child relationship. ECMHC is aimed at supporting, or when need be enhancing, relational health between children and those who care for them, as well as among adults in early care and education settings and systems.
Part 3 Description:
The first two sessions of this webinar series described the theoretical premises and essential elements of Early Childhood Mental Health Consultation. The relationally focused, dynamically and equity informed model served as foundational grounding for this webinar. This concluding segment focused on the unique characteristics and concerns that arise when consulting around the care of infants and toddlers. Specific attention was paid to the particularities of Family Child Care as the setting in which most infants and toddlers are cared for. Regardless of the venue, caring for babies typically elicits powerful protective urges in caregivers. The impact of these biologically driven impulses on providers, parents and their relationships with a child and one another was highlighted. The reluctance to, as well as the benefits of, identifying mental health and developmental difficulties in infants and toddlers was addressed. Early Childhood Mental Health Consultation’s ability to adapt and attend to these and other particularities of providing care for infants and toddlers was explored.