Denise Guy

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Infant Mental Health - Good Beginnings

The early years of life have a formative impact on development, relationships and functioning throughout life. Many adverse outcomes can be prevented when parents/whanau are supported and given information enabling them to be optimally responsive to their children. When there are risks identified well planned early interventions are necessary and cost effective. Where there are for example - parental mental health concerns, a significant loss or trauma, impulsivity, and/or drug and alcohol abuse; family violence, neglect and/or hostile attributions about the child; children with developmental difficulties; and poverty we need to recognise the needs of these families and develop integrated approaches to assessing and intervening.

This session will background the area of Infant Mental Health within an international and domestic context. Infant in this context is from birth to 4th birthday although research and clinical intervention is inclusive of the antenatal period
• What is Infant Mental Health
• Why is it so important to promote Infant Mental Health
• General principles of prevention and intervention in the early years
The focus will be on social and emotional interaction in the first three months of an infant’s life.  The DVD developed by Counties Manukau DHB based on the Australian “Getting To Know You” DVDs will be shown. This film is about recognising infant social and emotional communication an area that is not well resourced for parents as the emphasis is usually on practical care like feeding, sleeping, bathing and immunising. Supporting parents and whanau to be sensitively responsive and interactive with  their infant from birth promotes positive social, emotional and cognitive development. This is good practice at a universal level and essential for vulnerable families.
• Implications for Primary Care Practitioners

Intended audience: Suitable for All – as in everyone should know about this area but particularly suitable for practitioners involved in seeing infants and families.

Biography: Denise Guy is a Child and Adolescent Psychiatrist with clinical expertise in infancy and early childhood. Her current roles include clinical supervision around infant and child mental health, Vice Presidency of the NZ Affiliate of the World Infant Mental Health Association, and she is a Trustee of the Incredible Families Charitable Trust. Denise maintains interests in parenting and attachment, developmental disorders, assessment and intervention processes, the development of knowledge and skills for clinicians, and advocacy for families and clinicians in the infant mental health field.