What can we do about very young children who cry all the time, or who withdraw, or who resist the very thing they need most: loving care? What can we do about parents who seem lost in the hurts of their own early childhood, and who behave in ways absolutely antithetical to their own stated parenting principles? This is the world of infant mental health, and this book gathers together 25 stories from the author’s 41 years of experience in this remarkable clinical specialty. It will serve as a casebook and guide for infant mental health practitioners, and for the specialized faculty who prepare them. The clarity and accessibility of the cases will, however, make this book compelling to anyone mystified by how our earliest attachment experiences support or confound our later development.

This completely revised and updated edition reflects tremendous advances in theory, research and practice that have taken place over the past decade. Grounded in a relational view of infancy, the volume offers a broad interdisciplinary analysis of the developmental, clinical and social aspects of mental health from birth to age three.

Infant and Early Childhood Mental Health: Core Concepts and Clinical Practice is a groundbreaking book that provides an overview of the field from both theoretical and clinical viewpoints. The editors and chapter authors -- some of the field's foremost researchers and teachers -- describe from their diverse perspectives key concepts fundamental to infant-parent and early childhood mental health work. The complexity of this emerging field demands an interdisciplinary approach, and the book provides a clear, comprehensive, and coherent text with an abundance of clinical applications to increase understanding and help the reader to integrate the concepts into clinical practice. Offering both cutting-edge coverage and a format that facilitates learning, the book boasts the following features and content: A focus on helping working professionals expand their specialization skills and knowledge and on offering core competency training for those entering the field, which reflects the Infant-Parent Mental Health Postgraduate Certificate Program (IPMHPCP) and Fellowship in Napa, CA that was the genesis of the book. Chapters written by a diverse group of authors with vastly different training, expertise, and clinical experience, underscoring the book's interdisciplinary approach. In addition, terms such as clinician, therapist, provider, professional, and teacher are intentionally used interchangeably to describe and unify the field. Explication and analysis of a variety of therapeutic models, including Perry's Neurosequential Model of Therapeutics; Brazelton's neurodevelopmental and relational Touchpoints; attachment theory; the Neurorelational Framework; Mindsight; and Downing's Video Intervention Therapy. An entire chapter devoted to diagnostic schemas for children ages 0--5, which highlights the Diagnostic Classification of Mental Health Disorders of Infancy and Early Childhood: Revised (DC:0-3R). With the release of DSM-5, this chapter provides a prototypical crosswalk between DC:0-3R and ICD codes. A discussion of the difference between evidence-based treatments and evidence-based practices in the field, along with valuable information on randomized controlled trials, a research standard that, while often not feasible or ethically permissible in infant mental health work, remains a standard applied to the field. Key points and references at the end of each chapter, and generous use of figures, tables, and other resources to enhance learning. The volume editors and authors are passionate about the pressing need for further research and the acquisition and application of new knowledge to support the health and well-being of individuals, families, and communities. Infant and Early Childhood Mental Health: Core Concepts and Clinical Practice should find a receptive audience for this critically important message.

This book has been replaced by Handbook of Infant Mental Health, Fourth Edition, ISBN 978-1-4625-3710-5.

Provides an evidence-based and practical approach to assessment of young children and their families across diverse settings.

Offers 12 real-life stories written by infant mental health specialists about their work with young children and families. Each case study also reveals the supervision and consultation that supported the specialist, and the specialist's interaction with the larger service system.

The Handbook of Infant, Toddler, and Preschool Mental Health Assessment brings together, for the first time, leading clinical researchers to provide empirically based recommendations for assessment of social-emotional and behavior problems and disorders in the earliest years. Each author presents state-of-the-art information on scientifically valid, developmentally based clinical assessments and makes recommendations based on the integration of developmental theory, empirical findings, and clinical experience. Though the field of mental health assessment in infants and young children lags behind work with older children and adults, recent scientific advances, including new measures and diagnostic approaches, have led to dramatic growth in the field. The editors of this exciting new work have assembled an extraordinary collection of chapters that thoroughly discuss the conceptualizations of dysfunction in infants and young children, current and new diagnostic criteria, and such specific disorders as sensory modulation dysfunction, sleep disorders, eating and feeding disorders, autistic spectrum disorders, anxiety disorders, posttraumatic stress disorder, and ADHD. Chapters further highlight the importance of incorporating contextual factors such as parent-child relationship functioning and cultural background into the assessment process to increase the validity of findings. Given the comprehensiveness of this groundbreaking volume in reviewing conceptual, methodological, and research advances on early identification, diagnosis, and clinical assessment of disorders in this young age group, it will be an ideal resource for teachers, researchers, and a wide variety clinicians including child psychologists, child psychiatrists, early intervention providers, early special educators, social workers, family physicians, and pediatricians.