Infant and Early Childhood Mental Health: An Interview with Dr. Barbara Stroud

Описание: Curt and Katie interview Dr. Barbara Stroud on infant and early childhood mental health. We explore what therapists need to know about working with very young children, including the latest brain science and the very earliest developmental stages. We talk about the importance of children being safe, seen, heard, and helped. We also look at the importance of culture and how to support under-resourced families.
--
Link tree: https://linktr.ee/therapyreimagined

Show notes: https://therapyreimagined.com/modernt...
--
Barbara Stroud, PhD, is a licensed psychologist with over three decades worth of culturally informed clinical practice in early childhood development and mental health. She is a founding organizer and the inaugural president (2017-2019) of the California Association for Infant Mental Health, a ZERO TO THREE Fellow, and holds prestigious endorsements as an Infant and Family Mental Health Specialist/Reflective Practice Facilitator Mentor. Dr. Stroud was honored with the Bruce D. Perry Spirit of the Child Award. Embedded in all of her trainings and consultations are the activities of reflective practice, demonstrating cultural attunement, and holding a social justice lens in the work. Dr. Stroud’s books: “How to Measure a Relationship” and “Intentional Living: finding the inner peace to create successful relationships.” Dr. Stroud is also a contributing author to the text “Infant and early childhood mental health: Core concepts and clinical practice”.
Dr. Stroud received her Ph.D. in Applied Developmental Psychology from Nova Southeastern University, and she has worked largely with children in urban communities with severe emotional disturbance.  Dr. Stroud’s professional career path has allowed her to work across service delivery silos supporting professionals in mental health, early intervention (part c), child welfare, early care and education, family court staff, primary care, and other arenas. She has held an adjunct faculty position at California State Long Beach and maintained a faculty position in the Infant-Parent Mental Health Fellowship for 12 years. Currently, Dr. Stroud’s primary focus is professional training and private consultation from an anti-racist lens, with a focus on social justice, in the field of infant mental health. Dr. Stroud remains steadfast in her mission to ‘changing the world – one relationship at a time’.

What is infant and early childhood mental health?
Looking at big feelings and social and emotional development
The current brain science that is impacting infant and early childhood mental health
How adults impact infant developing brains
What are the basics that therapists should know when working with children under 5 years old?
The importance of dyadic therapy
Parent training
Social emotional developmental stages
The damage of punishment on the development of an authentic self
What infants need to love themselves, have healthy development
Infants want to be safe, seen, heard, and helped
Co-regulation and holding the big feeling with the child
The impacts of this work on adults
Transgenerational work – we treat the parent in the way that we would like the parent to treat the child
How to support parents in healing their own wounds
Therapy Interventions for infants and children under five years old
Play therapy is complex and advanced and requires training and supervision
Before children can think symbolically or have words, play is not effective
Attunement and attachment work
The impact of the pandemic on social emotional development
Developmental delays seen in research of kids related to the pandemic
The way children can catch up developmentally
The impact of parents’ stress responses on availability
How the lack of interaction with age-mates impacts development
The responses to stress based on these delays
Cultural impacts on early childhood development
Questions to ask about cultural and family traditions
The stories to explore and the importance of stories and practices
How to explore areas of inequity and disparities
Understanding our power as professionals
Interventions for families with very young children
Helping families to identify what they are able to do to make changes
The importance of predictability for families with a lot of chaos
How therapists without kids can work with parents
How parenting is an individual journey
The importance of loving kids and being emotionally available to kids

A Quick Note:
Our opinions are our own. We are only speaking for ourselves – except when we speak for each other, or over each other. We’re working on it.
Our guests are also only speaking for themselves and have their own opinions. We aren’t trying to take their voice, and no one speaks for us either. Mostly because they don’t want to, but hey.