Becoming An Infant and Early Childhood Mental Health Professional: Professional Formation-Ways of "Knowing," "Doing," and "Being-With"

When: Friday, November 15 - 9:30 AM

Duration: 1 hours 30 minutes

Location: Zoom

Event Details:

This presentation will examine the field of professional development which frequently relies on “trainings” with an emphasis on gaining knowledge and skills in the fields of infant and early childhood mental health and autism.  In the field of autism, the most common approach to intervention emphasizes techniques for managing behaviors. This workshop will assert that these approaches fail to adequately recognize and apply the science of interpersonal and brain processes, and the emotional and the relational context of human development in our work with infants, children and families.

The concept of "Formation" will be introduced and explained as a model that embodies notions of "integration", "personal unfolding", layered knowledge of "self", and three interrelated “ways” of professional development: knowing, doing and being-with.  This model of “Formation” can serve as guidance for all who seek to support the growth of a responsive, multidisciplinary field as our understandings of infant and early childhood mental health and autism unfolds.

Learning Objectives

• Identify and describe the “Formation” framework, and three interrelated ways of development: knowing, doing and being-with.
• Identify and describe three frames to embrace in “formation” as ways of suspending judgement and promoting reflectivity
• Discuss the three aspects of “self” that must be engaged in professional growth
• Describe the AGILE framework of preverbal and nonverbal engagement and relatedness.