Infant Development Association of California
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The Intersection Between Early Intervention and Early Childhood Mental Health Practice
Thursday, December 01, 2022, 12:00 PM - 1:30 PM PST
Category: Events

Family playing blocks"How We Are with Families Is as Important as What We Do."*
The Intersection Between Early Intervention and Early Childhood Mental Health Practice

with Stacy Frauwirth, MS, OTR/L, and Maria Less, MS, LCSW
Thursday, December 1, 2022 | 12:00pm - 1:30pm (PT) | Virtual Event

Can't attend the event live? Register to receive access to the recording!

In order to be truly effective in supporting young children’s development both early childhood mental health and developmental work need to be incorporated into our practices with families. Yet often early interventionists have not received the training or support they need in order to feel effective and competent when working with families who are struggling. How can we use our relationships with families to enhance our effectiveness in supporting young children’s development?

Stacy Frauwirth and Maria Less from Through the Looking Glass (TLG) in Berkeley, California, a community-based non-profit agency, grounded in the disability rights movement and in infant/ early childhood mental health and developmental practice will share insights gained through years of combining developmental and early childhood mental health practice. TLG has developed numerous strategies to support the integration of developmental and mental health approaches and encourage collaboration between clinical and developmental staff.

This presentation will provide an overview of the key components of a relationship/attachment-based practice and examples of how TLG staff partner across multiple service delivery systems. Participants will see how they are already using early childhood mental health practices in their work with families, will learn new strategies they might want to try to further enhance their work, and will see how the way they are with families is itself a powerful intervention.

Participant Objectives:

  1. Understand the tenets of infant and early childhood mental health (IECMH) practice and the consultative stance.
  2. Identify strategies for partnership and collaboration.
  3. Recognize ways they are already applying IECMH principles in their early intervention services and will identify additional strategies they are able to adopt including when to make referrals for direct mental health support.

Stacy Frauwirth, MS, OTR/LStacy Frauwirth, MS, OTR/L, is the Director of Child Development Services at Through the Looking Glass in Berkeley, CA. Stacy is a licensed occupational therapist with more than 30 years of pediatric clinical, teaching, and supervisory experience.

Stacy has substantial experience providing home- and center-based early intervention services, and conducting trainings on development, assessment, and sensory processing. In her role as the Director of Child Development Services, Stacy coordinates the developmental services, supervises developmental staff, and provides consultation and training to TLG’s Early Head Start and Oakland Head Start programs.

 

 

Maria Less, MS, LCSWMaria Less, MS, LCSW, is the Director of Early Childhood Consultation Services, and a clinical supervisor at Through the Looking Glass.

She is a licensed clinical social worker and child development specialist, who has worked in the field of early childhood and family practice for 34 years, providing child, dyadic parent-child, and family psychotherapy, clinical supervision, and training in infant /early childhood mental health, relationship-based reflective practice, attachment, and autism spectrum issues. Before coming to Through the Looking Glass, she established and facilitated a program for children on the autism spectrum for 12 years.

 

 

 

At Through the Looking Glass (TLG), Stacy and Maria have collaborated to increasingly integrate developmental and mental health perspectives and practice across clinical services, including treatment of individual children and families, training to staff and psychology trainees, consultation to TLG’s Early Head Start program and to Oakland Head Start programs, and recently, in piloting therapeutic play groups.

Nonmember: $50
IDA Agency/Individual Member: $35
IDA Parent/Student/New Clinician Member: $25

IDA CE Hours: Nursing, PT, Speech and Language** $15 (1.5 hour)
CDI CE Hours: LCSW, LMFT, LEP, LPCC
(you will be invoiced and only if attending live)
**CEUs for SLPs can be used to fulfill California’s licensing board. They are not sent to the ASHA registry. Participants should retain their IDA certificates and submit a Certification Maintenance Compliance form with ASHA.

ADA Requests: Contact IDA @ [email protected] with ADA request by November18

Limited number of scholarships available

Register Today

*Inspired by the title of a book by Jeree Pawl and Maria St. John (1998) How You Are Is as Important as What You Do…..in Making a Positive Difference for Infants Toddlers and Their Families.