If you're having trouble viewing this email, you can see it online.
KAIMH Connections
Resources for Early Childhood Mental Health Advocates
Updates | February, 2023
We have so much to celebrate this month! The Chiefs won the Super Bowl, the days are getting longer, and there are many early childhood conferences opening back up this spring. On that note, we have several scholarship options for the KAIMH annual conference, and there are some exciting new training opportunities we share below to support your early childhood mental health professional development and IMH Endorsement®.
KAIMH has multiple scholarship opportunities available for our annual conference! Be sure to complete this quick form to see if you are eligible.
Understanding the Sensory System and Its Importance in Early Childhood Development and Social-Emotional Regulation, Allie Ticktin
11:30 - 1:00
Lunch Provided, KAIMH Annual Meeting, Alice Eberhart-Wright Visionary Award
1:00 - 4:00
Keynote continued, Allie Ticktin (snack provided)
April 28 Friday (Day 2)
8:00 - 8:15
Check in and snacks
8:15 - 11:15
Who Decides If I’m Safe: Polyvagal Theory in Infant Mental Health, George Thompson
11:15 - 12:45
Lunch on your own
12:45 - 2:00
Breakout Sessions 1&2: Nurturing the Brain Body Connection, pt. 1 Meeting the Needs of Children in Foster Care. pt.1 What We Want for Babies: The Heart of Reflective Supervision Be A Voice for Babies: Overview of Infant Mental Health LGBTQIA: Cultural Competency: Best Practices for Working with LGBTAIA Youth and Families pt.1
2:00 – 2:15
Snack break
2:15 - 3:30
Breakout Sessions 3&4: Nurturing the Brain Body Connection, pt. 2 Meeting the Needs of Children in Foster Care. pt.2 Orientation to Endorsement® Supervision: Reflective or Clinical LGBTQIA: Cultural Competency: Best Practices for Working with LGBTAIA Youth and Families pt.2
Where: Wichita State University Metroplex
5015 East 29th St N, Wichita, KS 67220
11.5 total hours of KDHE approved in-service.
Early Bird discounts are available through April 12th. Member price: $225 Non-member price: $275
Hotel rooms are available until April 12th at Hyatt Place at Wichita State University, 4703 E. 19th Street North, Wichita, KS To book your room, click here
Keynote speaker, Allie Ticktin, MA, OTD, OTR/L is an Occupational Therapist & Founder of Play2Progress will be offering a 6 hour presentation on Thursday, April 27th, Understanding the Sensory System and Its Importance in Early Childhood Development and Social-Emotional Regulation.
George S. Thompson MD will be offering a 3 hour presentation on Friday, April 28th, Who Decides If I’m Safe: Polyvagal Theory in Infant Mental Health.
Breakout sessions will be offered Friday afternoon
Be a Voice for Babies: Overview of Infant Mental Health
Understanding infant mental health is foundational to the KAIMH Infant Mental Health Endorsement®. This presentation will provide an overview of infant mental health including the basics of brain development, definition of infant mental health, trauma and its impact on infant mental health, and strategies to support positive mental health for babies, families and caregivers.
What We Want for Babies: The Heart of Reflective Facilitation
Joy Hoofer, Ph.D., IMH-E® and Jessica Mostaffa, LCPC, IMH-E® independent practitioners, have had the blessing of being Reflective Consultants for individuals and groups working in the early childhood field across Kansas. In this session, they will share their knowledge and experience around what they believe is the heart of reflective consultation/supervision and how it produces what we truly want for all babies. Through moments of experiential learning, the session will provide opportunities to increase self-awareness, demonstrate the importance of the parallel process in our work and provide two RS/C frameworks. Be prepared to observe, listen, wonder and respond to all this session has to offer.
Orientation to Endorsement
The KAIMH IMH Endorsement® is a credential that supports and recognizes the development of professionals who work with or on behalf of infants, toddlers and their families. This credential uses a nationally recognized set of competencies that define best practice and guides professional growth. This presentation will discuss the process of completing Endorsement®, the value of IMH Endorsement®, an overview of KAIMH, and how Endorsement® can benefit professionals in the early childhood field.
LGBTQ+ Cultural Competency and Best Practices for Working with LGBTQ+ Youth and Families
Being culturally competent means learning new patterns of behaviors, research trends, and social cues of a specific community and then effectively applying them into our personal and professional lives. This training covers the experiences, values, and belief systems specific to LGBTQ+ youth and their families. Participants will gain a heightened sense of personal awareness to encourage a safe and positive environment for sexual and gender minorities and will identify achievable strategies and adaptations for increasing confidence when working with LGBTQ+ youth and families.
Nurturing the Brain Body Connection Physical activities that promote body integration strengthen neural pathways, which enable us to process new information and changing situations better. This workshop will help participants recognize these important connections and select activities to enhance the brain-body connection. This course is appropriate for all early care and education professionals.
Meeting the Needs of Children in Foster Care This training is designed to support providers who care for children that are in the foster care system. This training will provide a brief overview of trauma, trauma triggers, and toxic stress and how it impacts children. It will also help providers understand and support the unique needs of children in foster care and develop an understanding of how to support children with complex emotions related to trauma and family transitions. This course is appropriate for all early care and education professionals.
Supervision: Reflective or Clinical
Infant Mental Health professionals frequently focus on collaborative relationships to improve program quality and strengthen practice. However, when psychopathology creates complications, clinical supervision becomes part of the reflective supervisory approach. In such cases, supervisors must focus on four core clinical roles: Teacher, Consultant, Coach, and Mentor/Role Model if optimal outcomes are to be obtained. This presentation focuses on implementation of these roles in a clinical setting.
Calling All Vendors and Sponsors
We are inviting vendors and sponsors to join us at our annual conference April 27-28th in Wichita, KS. Participants are home visitors, health care professionals, early educators, early childhood mental health professionals, as well as a variety of other professionals. We expect 175 attendees.
If you have any questions please reach out to info@kaimh.org
Looking for free to low-cost early childhood mental health training opportunities? Below are some upcoming classes offered from Kansas Leadership Education in Neurodevelopmental Disabilities, Kansas Child Care Training Opportunities, Early Childhood Investigations, and Connected Kids
KS LEND Trauma Responsive Practices March 28 Register here
KCCTO classes Mindfulness for Early Childhood Professionals March 2- 9 or May 4-11 Register here
Promoting Family Engagement with Infant and Toddler Families March 2-9 or May 4-11 Register here
Trauma and Adverse Childhood Experiences March 2-9 or May 4-11 Register here
Live Virtual: Responsive Care for Infants and Toddlers March 9 Register here
Live Virtual: Early Intervention and Special Education Basics March 16 Register here
Brain Basics March 23- 30 or May 18- 25 Register here
Exploring Social and Emotional Development March 23-30 or May 18-25 Register here
Power of Positive Communication March 23-30 or May 18-25 Register here
Training Module: Building a Caring Community March 30 – May 25 Register here
Beyond a Celebration: Exploring Culture in Practice April 6- 13 Register here
Educator Series: Overcoming Teacher Burnout in Early Childhood April 6 – May 11 Register here
Early Childhood Investigations Classes
The Healing Power of Play and Optimism, by Steve Gross, MSW March 23 Register here
Benefits and Consequences of Racial Segregation in Early Childhood? by Iheoma U. Iruka, Ph.D. and Stephanie Curenton, Ph.D March 30 Register here
Coaching Early Educators for Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, Accessibility, and Belonging, by Anni K. Reinking, Ed.D. and Laycee Thigpen MS.Ed. April 26 Register here
Connected Kids Offers these three online courses on demand:
The Impact of Trauma on Attachment: Four Basic Attachment Patterns & How They Manifest by Dr. Barbara Sorrel
Introduction to Reaching & Teaching Children Exposed to Trauma Key Principles to a Trauma-Responsive Environment by Dr. Barbara Sorrel
Invisible Neglect: Introduction to Prenatal Trauma by Dr. Barbara Sorrel
Congrats to our newest Infant Mental Health Endorsee!
Are you curious about the Infant Mental Health Endorsement® (IMH-E®)?! We invite you to take 11-minutes and watch a brief webinar that addresses WHAT is Endorsement®; WHY it’s beneficial to babies and families; WHO should apply; and HOW to apply. You can find the webinar here: https://vimeo.com/747705870. Please let us know if you have any questions!
Alice Eberhart-Wright Nominations
The Alice Eberhart-Wright Award recognizes outstanding achievements and significant contributions in the field of infant and early childhood mental health. This award has been established in honor of Alice Eberhart-Wright, a pioneer in infant and early childhood mental health, who has been dedicated to supporting the social, emotional, and mental health of infants, young children and their families throughout her lifetime.
The Alice Eberhart-Wright Award will be presented each year at the KAIMH Annual Conference. The award recipient will be honored during the conference and their conference registration is covered.
The award is given to those who represent the mission of KAIMH and illustrate passion, creativity and best practices in their work supporting infant and early childhood mental health in Kansas. If you know someone you would like to nominate for this award, please submit the information via this form:
We need KAIMH members interested in leading our organization into the future! If you are interested in serving, we are soliciting nominations.
How? Send us a letter of interest and your resume/vita, or fill out this handy online form and let us know why you want to serve on the KAIMH board and what skills and knowledge you would bring. Contact us at info@kaimh.org with any questions!
.PNG)
.jpg)
