Infant and Early Childhood Mental Health: Attending to social and emotional development and child well-being when families are compromised by addiction. Relationships are critical to social and emotional development and health. The first five years of a child’s life offers an incredible opportunity to form a solid foundation for all subsequent growth, learning, health and well-being. The growth of this foundation is dependent on relationships. All the adults surrounding a child have a role in supporting a strong foundation for health and well-being with parents and other primary caregivers playing the most important role. Even in the best of circumstances attending to a child’s social and emotional health and well-being can be challenging, but when families are struggling with addiction or other serious challenges, it can feel extremely difficult and emotionally fatiguing. In this workshop, participants will learn about IMH principles and tenets of relationship-based work and consider the application of these principles and tenets in working with families struggling with addiction. Content and discussion will emphasize the role of Head Start professionals, the classroom environment, and outreach and support to parents using a relational framework. The importance of professional and agency health, well-being and support will be highlighted throughout.
