Infant mental health
Encyclopedia
Infant mental health is the study of mental health
as it applies to infant
s and their families. The field investigates optimal social and emotion
al development of infants and their families in the first three years of life. cognitive development
, and the development of motor skills may also be considered part of the infant mental health picture.
In the United States
, the organization Zero to Three also plays an important role in research and advocacy for infants and toddlers. A number of states have infant mental health organizations affiliated with WAIMH.
These organizations publish newsletters and journals such as "Zero to Three" and organize conferences and training events for individuals working with young children and their families.
The "Infant Mental Health Journal" is published by Wiley and owned by the Michigan Association for Infant Mental Health.
Infant mental health also refers to an interdisciplinary practice that began with Selma Fraiberg. Infant mental health practitioners provide relationship-focused interventions to the parents, foster parents, or other primary caregivers with infants and toddlers. Support is offered to help the parents better understand the unresolved losses from their past in order to be more emotionally available to their infant or toddler. The goal is often more satisfying relationships between the parent(s) and infant/toddler and a more secure attachment.
Mental health
Mental health describes either a level of cognitive or emotional well-being or an absence of a mental disorder. From perspectives of the discipline of positive psychology or holism mental health may include an individual's ability to enjoy life and procure a balance between life activities and...
as it applies to infant
Infant
A newborn or baby is the very young offspring of a human or other mammal. A newborn is an infant who is within hours, days, or up to a few weeks from birth. In medical contexts, newborn or neonate refers to an infant in the first 28 days after birth...
s and their families. The field investigates optimal social and emotion
Emotion
Emotion is a complex psychophysiological experience of an individual's state of mind as interacting with biochemical and environmental influences. In humans, emotion fundamentally involves "physiological arousal, expressive behaviors, and conscious experience." Emotion is associated with mood,...
al development of infants and their families in the first three years of life. cognitive development
Cognitive development
Cognitive development is a field of study in neuroscience and psychology focusing on a child's development in terms of information processing, conceptual resources, perceptual skill, language learning, and other aspects of brain development and cognitive psychology compared to an adult's point of...
, and the development of motor skills may also be considered part of the infant mental health picture.
Organizations
Worldwide, the World Association for Infant Mental Health (WAIMH) and its affiliates are active in addressing infant mental health concerns, and work toward ongoing scientific and clinical study of the infant’s development and its impact on later development. The WAIMH organizes a world congress in even years.In the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
, the organization Zero to Three also plays an important role in research and advocacy for infants and toddlers. A number of states have infant mental health organizations affiliated with WAIMH.
These organizations publish newsletters and journals such as "Zero to Three" and organize conferences and training events for individuals working with young children and their families.
The "Infant Mental Health Journal" is published by Wiley and owned by the Michigan Association for Infant Mental Health.
Infant mental health also refers to an interdisciplinary practice that began with Selma Fraiberg. Infant mental health practitioners provide relationship-focused interventions to the parents, foster parents, or other primary caregivers with infants and toddlers. Support is offered to help the parents better understand the unresolved losses from their past in order to be more emotionally available to their infant or toddler. The goal is often more satisfying relationships between the parent(s) and infant/toddler and a more secure attachment.