UAIMH Annual Conference

This conference will take place virtually over the course of two days (Friday & Saturday, 2/2 & 2/3/2024).

CEU Opportunities:

There will be opportunities for CEUs for the conference for Psychology and Social Work.

Conference Program

Join us for the 2024 UAIMH Annual conference – “Lifting Up the Hands that Lift Up Our Children"! This year, three nationally recognized speakers will focus on how to support providers in the important work of serving infants young, children, and their caregivers, especially under challenging circumstances or during stressful experiences. Participants will learn how to foster healthy relationships and how this relates back to how to utilize reflective supervision (RS) and reflective practice (RP) to better sit with and work through the discomfort and difficulty that can arise during work with young children and families. More specifically, our presenters will discuss how to utilize RS and RP to better understand and think about young children's behaviors and promote equity to improve Infant and Early Childhood Mental Health (IECMH).

Meet the Presenters

Dr. Catherine Monk has done groundbreaking research into the effects of prenatal stress on babies' development. Dr. Monk is a professor of Women's Mental Health and Medical Psychology at Columbia University. She is the co-creator of the PREPP intervention to prevent postpartum depression and the lead of various comprehensive programs to support the mental health of new parents and - ultimately - babies. Dr. Monk serves on the ZERO TO THREE Board of Directors. Dr. Monk has contributed to scientific evidence showing that when pregnant women experience stress, anxiety, and depression, it affects them as well as their offspring in utero.

Barbara Stroud, PhD, is a Clinical Psychologist, author, founding organizer and inagural president of the California Association for Infant Mental Health, and a ZERO TO THREE Fellow. She is also endorsed as an Infant and Family Mental Health Specialist/Reflective Pratice Facilitator Mentor. More specifically, Dr. Stroud is a former preschool director, a non-public school adminstrator, and director of infant mental health services. Dr. Stroud remains steadfast in her mission to 'changing the world - one relationship at a time'.

McCall Lyon, PsyD, is a licensed clinical psychologist at The Children’s Center Utah (TCCU), where her areas of expertise include supporting early childhood development, facilitating attuned interactions between caregivers and children, and treating the impact of current and intergenerational trauma. She currently serves as TCCU’s Teleconsultation Director, in which role she provides training and consultation to IEC professionals who work with young children in Utah.

Day 1: Friday, February 2 (8:30am-12:30pm)

Dr. Catherine Monk will open the conference by inviting us to re-orient the persepctives we have on the importance of the prenatal period for family and child well-being. Dr. Monk will introduce us to fetal programming research and demonstrate the potential of early dyadic intervention to change devleopmental trajectories. Dr. Monk will engage in active consideration of useful enhancements to prenatal care to promote optimal health for future families. Dr. Monk will discuss PREPP, an evidence-based protocol that addresses prenatal distress and prevent postpartum depression.

Day 2: Saturday, February 3 (8:30am-12:30pm)

On the second day, Dr. Barbara Stoud address the developmental impact of COVID on children birth to five, and the resulting delays in social emotional development. Participants will be provided with skills to determine a child and parent’s emotional capacity for relationships and learning. From an understanding of brain systems attendees will gain strategies to maximize social emotional capacity in alignment with targeted brain system availability (i.e., brain stem, midbrain, or cortex). Practical examples will be provided regarding activities to promote regulation, facilitate social emotional development, in partnership with family culture and values.

Reflective Practice Review & Discussion

Each day, the Keynote presentation will be followed by a presentation by Dr. McCall Lyon. Dr. Lyon will provide a foundational understanding of reflective practice. Dr. Lyon will provide an overview of the development of reflective functioning across the lifespan and the benefits of using self-reflection when working with young children and/or their families. Dr. Lyon will demonstrate tools and strategies to create and maintain an independent self-reflective practice, as well as provide information about both accessing and providing reflective supervision or consultation. The presentations by Dr. Lyon will clarify why Reflective Practice is essential for supporting providers, and the infants, toddlers, and families they work with.

Following Dr. Lyon's presentation each day, we will have "round table" discussions. Within Breakout rooms, you will have a chance to consider how the information from the presentations applies to your own work. We will end each day with a Q&A with the presenters of the day, followed by concluding remarks.

All in all, we aim to offer you tools to take back into your everyday work with the youngest members of our society and their caregivers. Our presenters are each highly esteemed experts in their fields, and they are excited to bring their work to you!

Scholarship Information:

UAIMH is excited to offer scholarships again this year to offset the cost of the conference for eligible attendees. These scholarships are intended to increase accessibility for attendees who are interested and engaged in work related to infant mental health but for whom the financial cost of registration would be a barrier to attending the annual conference. Please email uaimh.info@gmail.com if you are interested and include in the subject “UAIMH Scholarship Interest" with an answer to the question, "How would a scholarship to this conference support you in your professional goals?" We will then send you what you need to complete registration.

Students:

Again this year we are offering discounted tickets for students who wish to attend our conference. If you are a student and interested in purchasing a ticket for a discounted rate of $25.00, please send your name, the university you are attending, and a picture of your student ID card to uaimh.info@gmail.com. You will receive directions at that time for how to purchase a ticket. Please include "UAIMH Student Interest" in the subject of your email.

We hope you will enjoy the conference!

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