Yes infant mental health is a real thing! It happens to be my passion. As a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist I am a strong proponent of paying attention to our mental health along with physical health. And that starts even before birth. In my field you can specialize in Infant Mental Health (or referred to as 0-5) and that’s exactly the path I have taken. I love it and I can’t wait to share with you my knowledge of 0-5 mental health.
Before I jump into sharing specifics about infant mental health I will share my story as to why I even became interested in this field. I will in fact share specifics in later posts this is just an introduction!
After graduate school I was working as a children’s therapist. I provided individual and family counseling to children ages 5-21. As I worked with these children I began to notice that by age 5 some children had already seen traumatic things and I wondered what it would be like if I could help them at an earlier age. The more research I did the more I learned that yes early is better when it comes to our mental health.
I searched for ways to increase my knowledge in this area. I was lucky enough to be accepted into a post graduate program for infant mental health. In this program the teachers are the best in the field. It was an inspiring time and one you will hear more about I’m sure! Teachers include greats like T. Berry Brazelton, Bruce Perry, Dan Siegel, Connie Lilas, Barbara Stroud, and the list goes on.
Our mental health begins at this early age and I want to help Moms, Dads, and all other types of caregivers to learn ways that will support our youngest people grow strong. In this blog I’ll share tips and strategies on how to do just that. It won’t be every week but often enough because did I mention… this is my passion.
Let’s learn together how to improve the mental health of children and ultimately build strong humans who are able to not only be physically strong but emotionally strong. Relationships are that Avenue to strong mental health.
Relationships are the agents of change and the most powerful therapy is human love
Let’s take time from the beginning to nurture that!
–Tracy @mommytracerq
MommyTracerQ Fashion.Lifestyle.Mommyhood. 