Dear I-AIMH members,

We hope you are all managing to find some sense of a new way of not only supporting those in your service, but that you yourselves continue to be well in the face of the great uncertainty we all meet every day. 

In light of the new ways of working and being, we have decided that 

This year’s AGM will be held online, on 16th October 2020, from 10am – 12pm. 

What will happen at the AGM?

The AGM will take place in a virtual space and allow us to come together, connect, and speak to the work that we have been continuing to do to support the emotional lives of babies, toddlers, and children over the past twelve months. 

We have a vacancy on the Executive Committee  (EC) this year and we would be delighted to have new members with an interest in supporting the association to spread the message! We have attached nomination forms for your consideration.

An AGM motion form is also attached, should you wish to put forward a motion.

(We will accept nominations for the EC and AGM motions until 5pm on 2nd October)

How do I attend?

– We will be in touch closer to the date with details of the online platform and how to join us, but for now we ask that you RSVP by emailing us and confirming you would like to attend. We will accept RSVPs until 9am on the day, but we invite you to RSVP as soon as possible!

– If you have any colleagues who are not members but would like to attend the AGM, please let them know they can join I-AIMH at any stage during the year, our Membership Officer Ciara is happy to help! You can join the association via the website (http://iaimh.ie/becoming-a-member/).

If you have any queries please let us know.

Take care,

Maria

Maria Price,

Secretary,

Irish Association for Infant Mental Health
(IAIMH)

http://iaimh.ie/

Follow us on twitter @IMHIreland

Connect with us on Instagram @ImhIreland

I-AIMH Competency Guidelines Workshop & AGM May 2019

Tallaght West CDI kindly hosted I-AIMH, and its members on a sunny Friday morning in May 2019. Donkeys and Dolly Parton greeted members as they spent the morning listening to Catherine Maguire (Infant Mental Health Specialist and I-AIMH Committee Member) and Marie Mac Sweeney (Past President of I-AIMH and Committee Member) speak to members about the Irish Competency Guidelines, how these might look in certain services, and specifically how Area Based Childhood Programmes (ABCs) have contributed, and could continue to contribute to supporting the emotional development of ‘under fives’. Marie spoke about the continuing plan for rolling out the competency framework and the guidelines, and the momentum that I-AIMH will continue to keep! 

Following this, I-AIMH held its AGM, where we sadly said goodbye to Ger O’ Riordan as treasurer and also treasured long time committee member! Two committee member places were available and both were filled; I-AIMH are delighted to welcome Sharon Byrne and Helen Ryan to the executive committee. Stay tuned for the next update!

The social and emotional developmental needs of babies and toddlers are important and need to be understood by those working with this age group. This will be one of the key messages at the official launch this week of Competency Guidelines for those working with very young children and their carers.

 

The guidelines are being launched by the Irish Association for Infant Mental Health (I-AIMH) a registered charity established by a range of health professionals to promote greater awareness and understanding of the science of infant mental health in Ireland. Infant mental health is fast becoming a very significant public health issue, spurred on by a growing field of compelling research and practice.

The Competency Guidelines, entitled ‘Promoting Infant Mental Health – Endorsement for Culturally Sensitive Relationship-Focused Practice”, offer a professional framework for the workforce of practitioners who work with babies, young children and their parents/care givers practice for those working with babies and toddlers, (e.g. Public Health Nurses, GPs and Creche / Pre-school workers) to advance infant mental health knowledge, best practice skills and promote the development of reflective practice experiences within the work settings.

“The issue of mental health has thankfully been given much greater prominence in our society in recent times. The aim of I-AIMH is to ensure that our babies and toddlers are included in the debate about the importance of mental health”, according to Marie MacSweeney, President of I-AIMH.

The launch of the Competency Guidelines takes place in the Mansion House, Dublin and is hosted by I-AIMH and will include 2 invited infant mental health experts, Dr. Deborah J. Weatherston, Executive Director and Ms. Nichole Paradis, Endorsement Director at the Alliance for the Advancement of Infant Mental Health, Michigan, USA.

 The launch will be followed by a showcasing of infant mental health already in action in Ireland in a range of settings including the Young Knocknaheeny Area Based Childhood Programme in Cork city, a Primary Care setting in South Tipperary and Holles St. Maternity Hospital in Dublin.  These presentations will emphasise the pivotal role played by frontline services in promoting positive infant mental health. Later in the proceedings, the importance of reflective supervision in this work will be discussed and a live supervision session will take place.

“The first three years of a child’s life provides us with a tremendous opportunity to affect change due to the plasticity of the brain. We need to start early and to pay greater attention to the mental health of our babies from day one as it affects them for the rest of their lives. This is exactly why we are trying to inform, educate and guide those who work with babies and toddlers in order to support the parent-baby relationship so that they have the best possible start in life”, stated Catherine Maguire, Infant Mental Health Specialist and co-founder of I-AIMH.

Infant Mental Health is an interdisciplinary field of practice and a relatively new field of practice within Ireland. Much of the focus of the I-AIMH since its establishment has been to enable practitioners reach their potential in the promotion of caregiver-infant relationships during the pivotal early developmental stage in order to reduce the prevalence of infant mental health problems. These guidelines which will sit within the I-AIMH will now provide an incredibly useful framework for all in order to help shape and develop workforce capacity even further in this exciting and worthwhile area.

Save the Date: Thursday 19^th April 2018       

The Oak Room, The Mansion House, Dawson Street, Dublin 2

 

I-AIMH is delighted to announce the launch of their Professional Competency Guidelines for Culturally Sensitive, Relationship-Focused Practice Promoting Infant Mental Health ®.

I-AIMH is the first affiliate (of WAIMH) in Europe to have the licencing agreement to implement the Michigan Association for Infant Mental Health (MI-AIMH) Competency Guidelines ®

See our flyer for further information, check our twitter feed @imhireland for updates!, and log on to https://imhcompetencieslaunch.eventbrite.ie/ to book your place today!

 

 

*This event is rescheduled from October*

Keeping the Baby in Mind: Bridging the Gap between Theory and Practice in Infant Mental Health

This is a 2 Day Programme for practitioners who have developed a familiarity regarding the practice of infant mental health and now wish to develop their clinical skills to consolidate their practice.

“Today, we are in possession of a vast scientific treasure, a treasure that should be returned to babies and their families as a gift from science” (Fraiberg, 1980)

Learning Objectives include:

• Understand the science of early development and its contribution to frontline practice
• Consolidate understanding of the importance of the baby’s early caregiving relationships and the role of the surrounding environment
• Recognise what promotes, supports and challenges the baby-caregiver relationships during pre-, peri- and post-natal periods and up to the three year developmental period
• Strengthen knowledge base regarding the developmental tasks of attachment and emotional regulation during the infant and toddler stages of development
• Translate and Integrate Infant Mental Health principles (IMH) into practice
• Establish frameworks for IMH Reflection and Reflective Practice Supervision

 

Facilitators

Catherine Maguire is a Senior Clinical Psychologist and Infant Mental Health Specialist & Clinical Mentor IMH-E®(IV) with 21 years experience in Child and Family Psychology Services. She completed her infant mental health training and endorsement with the Michigan Association for Infant Mental Health. Her clinical specialisation includes the development and establishment of infant mental health service frameworks and building workforce capacity. Her current work is focussed on the integration of infant mental health strategies into frontline service delivery .

Mairéad Carolan is a Senior Clinical Psychologist with over 26 years experience in mental health services. She has a particular interest and experience in working with mothers with post-natal depression and anxiety. Her area of specialisation is in the interface between Infant Mental Health and Adult Mental Health. She has been a member of the North Cork Infant Mental Health Network for over 10 years.

Places can be booked via EventBrite

Queries can be directed to imhireland@gmail.com

Keeping the Baby in Mind: Bridging the Gap between Theory and Practice in Infant Mental Health

This is a 2 Day Programme for practitioners who have developed a familiarity regarding the practice of infant mental health and now wish to develop their clinical skills to consolidate their practice.

“Today, we are in possession of a vast scientific treasure, a treasure that should be returned to babies and their families as a gift from science” (Fraiberg, 1980)

 

Learning Objectives include:

• Understand the science of early development and its contribution to frontline practice
• Consolidate understanding of the importance of the baby’s early caregiving relationships and the role of the surrounding environment
• Recognise what promotes, supports and challenges the baby-caregiver relationships during pre-, peri- and post-natal periods and up to the three year developmental period
• Strengthen knowledge base regarding the developmental tasks of attachment and emotional regulation during the infant and toddler stages of development
• Translate and Integrate Infant Mental Health principles (IMH) into practice
• Establish frameworks for IMH Reflection and Reflective Practive Supervision

 

Facilitators

Catherine Maguire is a Senior Clinical Psychologist and Infant Mental Health Specialist & Clinical Mentor IMH-E®(IV) with 21 years experience in Child and Family Psychology Services. She completed her infant mental health training and endorsement with the Michigan Association for Infant Mental Health. Her clinical specialisation includes the development and establishment of infant mental health service frameworks and building workforce capacity. Her current work is focussed on the integration of infant mental health strategies into frontline service delivery .

Mairéad Carolan is a Senior Clinical Psychologist with over 26 years experience in mental health services. She has a particular interest and experience in working with mothers with post-natal depression and anxiety. Her area of specialisation is in the interface between Infant Mental Health and Adult Mental Health. She has been a member of the North Cork Infant Mental Health Network for over 10 years.

Places can be booked via EventBrite

Queries can be directed to imhireland@gmail.com