Foundations for Infant/Toddler Social Emotional Health and Development: Online Course for Parents and Families
Infant and toddler social emotional health and development is a foundation of all development, involving a baby’s ability to express and regulate emotions, form positive relationships with others, and eagerly explore and learn. During the first 3 years of life, a baby’s brain develops more rapidly than at any other time. This development is shaped by the baby’s experiences with parents (and other primary family members)—your baby’s early experiences with you matter, and they last a lifetime.
This online Foundations course, offered for free to parents and families by Bradley Hospital, includes 10 computer-based modules that offer insights about a baby’s social emotional health and development, and it highlights the importance of positive early relationship experiences for healthy development.
Presented By
Susan Dickstein, PhD, IMH-E(IV-C), infant/early childhood mental health consultant and psychologist, associate professor at The Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University, president, Rhode Island Association for Infant Mental Health
Susan Dickstein, PhD is Associate Professor in the Brown Medical School, Department of Psychiatry and Human Behavior and Department of Pediatrics. For 2 decades, Dr. Dickstein was director of the Bradley Hospital Early Childhood Clinical Research Center (part of the Bradley/Hasbro Children’s Research Center), and collaborated on research within the realm of developmental psychopathology, attachment theory, family risk, maternal depression, and early childhood mental health. Dr. Dickstein is consulting editor for the Journal of Family Psychology and the Infant Mental Health Journal, and developed an online training course, Foundations for Infant/Toddler Social Emotional Health and Development: Designed for Providers.
Dr. Dickstein is also a licensed clinical psychologist who currently spends time consulting on research and community-based projects that integrate infant/early childhood mental health principles and evidence-based practices, including reflective supervision/consultation strategies. She is a founding member and president of the Rhode Island Association for Infant Mental Health, and is involved at a national level as a member of the World Association for Infant Mental Health, and as a founding partner and vice president of the board of the national Alliance for the Advancement of Infant Mental Health. Dr. Dickstein has earned endorsement as an infant mental health clinical mentor (level IV).