Women & Infants and Brown University Introduce Infant and Child Mental Health Certificate Program
Providence, RI, October 07, 2009 --(PR.com)-- Women & Infants Hospital of Rhode Island and The Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University have recently introduced a new certificate program that enables students to gain an in-depth understanding of the developmental, neurobehavioral, and psychological aspects of infant and early childhood mental health.
The Infant and Child Mental Health Post-Baccalaureate Certificate Program provides professional training to clinicians through classroom and clinical experience, with an optional research track. It is offered by the Brown Center for the Study of Children at Risk, a program of Women & Infants, and the Brown University Office of Continuing Education.
“The field of infant mental health incorporates a growing body of knowledge related to the healthy social and emotional development of very young children and the importance of strong relationships with caregivers in supporting that development,” said Barry M. Lester, PhD, director of the Brown Center for the Study of Children at Risk. “Infant mental health encompasses an increasing arena of practice including the promotion of healthy relationships, preventive-intervention with families who are at increased risk for social-emotional delays, and treatment that employs a range of parent-infant therapy.”
Dr. Lester continued, “This relatively new field is growing rapidly, and we developed this postgraduate certificate program in Infant and Child Mental Health to serve the educational needs of a broad range of clinicians and researchers.”
The Infant and Child Mental Health Program is open to licensed masters and doctoral level professionals or those in training for licensure. Prospective students come from a variety of disciplines including psychology, psychiatry, pediatrics, nursing, social work, occupational therapy, physical therapy, early intervention, and speech pathology.
There are two tracks of study for the program – the Clinical Track and the Clinical and Research Track. The Clinical Track consists of two, two-year-long courses entitled “Seminar in Infant and Child Mental Health” and “Practicum in Infant and Child Mental Health,” as well as two non-credit summer workshops.
The Seminar focuses on the science of infant mental health, including history, theory, research and practice in this ever-evolving field. Through the Practicum, participants will have the unique opportunity to take advantage of the clinical services at the Brown Center for the Study of Children at Risk and other hospital-based services at Women & Infants Hospital and other hospitals that address the complex situations that contribute to an infant being considered “at-risk” for mental health disorders.
Practicum training clinics will be held in the Brown Center for the Study of Children at Risk’s Behavior and Development Clinic; Infant Behavior, Cry and Sleep Clinic (Colic Clinic); Autism Spectrum Disorders Clinic; and Vulnerable Infants Program (VIP). Other training clinics will take place in Women & Infants’ NICU Developmental Therapy Clinic; NICU Family Psychosocial Service; Neurobehavioral Consult Service; Neonatal Follow-Up Program; and Day Hospital (for perinatal mood disorders); as well as in Bradley Hospital’s Early Childhood Clinical Research Center and Pediatric Partial Hospital; and Hasbro Children’s Hospital’s Primary Care Program.
The Clinical and Research Track takes the training from the Clinical Track and adds a supervised research mentorship experience. “Research in infant and child mental health is constantly growing and evolving,” said Dr. Lester. “By participating in research at the Brown Center for the Study of Children at Risk, trainees in the program will have the opportunity to contribute to evidence-based research that will strengthen the field of infant mental health.”
Women & Infants Hospital of Rhode Island, a Care New England hospital, is one of the nation’s leading specialty hospitals for women and newborns. The primary teaching affiliate of The Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University for obstetrics, gynecology and newborn pediatrics, Women & Infants is the seventh largest obstetrical service in the country with more than 9,000 deliveries per year. In 2009, Women & Infants opened the country’s largest, single-family room neonatal intensive care unit.
Women & Infants has been designated as a Breast Center of Excellence from the American College of Radiography; a Center for In Vitro Maturation Excellence by SAGE In Vitro Fertilization; and a Neonatal Resource Services Center of Excellence. It is one of the largest and most prestigious research facilities in high risk and normal obstetrics, gynecology and newborn pediatrics in the nation, and is a member of the National Cancer Institute’s Gynecologic Oncology Group. The hospital was named Rhode Island’s Best Place to Work by Providence Business News and a National Center of Excellence in Women’s Health by the federal government. For information about Women & Infants, log on to womenandinfants.org, and for the name of a physician on the Women & Infants’ staff, call the Health Line at 1-800-921-9299.
###
The Infant and Child Mental Health Post-Baccalaureate Certificate Program provides professional training to clinicians through classroom and clinical experience, with an optional research track. It is offered by the Brown Center for the Study of Children at Risk, a program of Women & Infants, and the Brown University Office of Continuing Education.
“The field of infant mental health incorporates a growing body of knowledge related to the healthy social and emotional development of very young children and the importance of strong relationships with caregivers in supporting that development,” said Barry M. Lester, PhD, director of the Brown Center for the Study of Children at Risk. “Infant mental health encompasses an increasing arena of practice including the promotion of healthy relationships, preventive-intervention with families who are at increased risk for social-emotional delays, and treatment that employs a range of parent-infant therapy.”
Dr. Lester continued, “This relatively new field is growing rapidly, and we developed this postgraduate certificate program in Infant and Child Mental Health to serve the educational needs of a broad range of clinicians and researchers.”
The Infant and Child Mental Health Program is open to licensed masters and doctoral level professionals or those in training for licensure. Prospective students come from a variety of disciplines including psychology, psychiatry, pediatrics, nursing, social work, occupational therapy, physical therapy, early intervention, and speech pathology.
There are two tracks of study for the program – the Clinical Track and the Clinical and Research Track. The Clinical Track consists of two, two-year-long courses entitled “Seminar in Infant and Child Mental Health” and “Practicum in Infant and Child Mental Health,” as well as two non-credit summer workshops.
The Seminar focuses on the science of infant mental health, including history, theory, research and practice in this ever-evolving field. Through the Practicum, participants will have the unique opportunity to take advantage of the clinical services at the Brown Center for the Study of Children at Risk and other hospital-based services at Women & Infants Hospital and other hospitals that address the complex situations that contribute to an infant being considered “at-risk” for mental health disorders.
Practicum training clinics will be held in the Brown Center for the Study of Children at Risk’s Behavior and Development Clinic; Infant Behavior, Cry and Sleep Clinic (Colic Clinic); Autism Spectrum Disorders Clinic; and Vulnerable Infants Program (VIP). Other training clinics will take place in Women & Infants’ NICU Developmental Therapy Clinic; NICU Family Psychosocial Service; Neurobehavioral Consult Service; Neonatal Follow-Up Program; and Day Hospital (for perinatal mood disorders); as well as in Bradley Hospital’s Early Childhood Clinical Research Center and Pediatric Partial Hospital; and Hasbro Children’s Hospital’s Primary Care Program.
The Clinical and Research Track takes the training from the Clinical Track and adds a supervised research mentorship experience. “Research in infant and child mental health is constantly growing and evolving,” said Dr. Lester. “By participating in research at the Brown Center for the Study of Children at Risk, trainees in the program will have the opportunity to contribute to evidence-based research that will strengthen the field of infant mental health.”
Women & Infants Hospital of Rhode Island, a Care New England hospital, is one of the nation’s leading specialty hospitals for women and newborns. The primary teaching affiliate of The Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University for obstetrics, gynecology and newborn pediatrics, Women & Infants is the seventh largest obstetrical service in the country with more than 9,000 deliveries per year. In 2009, Women & Infants opened the country’s largest, single-family room neonatal intensive care unit.
Women & Infants has been designated as a Breast Center of Excellence from the American College of Radiography; a Center for In Vitro Maturation Excellence by SAGE In Vitro Fertilization; and a Neonatal Resource Services Center of Excellence. It is one of the largest and most prestigious research facilities in high risk and normal obstetrics, gynecology and newborn pediatrics in the nation, and is a member of the National Cancer Institute’s Gynecologic Oncology Group. The hospital was named Rhode Island’s Best Place to Work by Providence Business News and a National Center of Excellence in Women’s Health by the federal government. For information about Women & Infants, log on to womenandinfants.org, and for the name of a physician on the Women & Infants’ staff, call the Health Line at 1-800-921-9299.
###
Contact
Women & Infants Hospital
Amy Blustein
401-453-7926
www.womenandinfants.org
Amy Blustein
401-453-7926
www.womenandinfants.org
Contact
Categories