The AiMH UK Infant Mental HealthContinuing Professional Development Programme (IMH CPD)
The AiMH UK IMH CPD Programme
One of the ways in which AiMH UK fulfils their mission statement is by encouraging and supporting students and IMH Practitioners who work with infants in a childcare setting, or who work with the parent-infant dyad, to access the AiMH UK IMH CPD Programme.
Participants build their own IMH Portfolio by documenting and keeping records of self-assessment, reflection, and practice mapped against the AiMH UK IMH Competency Framework (IMHCF).
We use an online digital platform called Moodle, which stands for Modular Object-Oriented Dynamic Learning Environment. This is a user-friendly system that many training providers and educational establishments use.
AiMH UK members have free access to this programme to build their IMH Portfolio. Non-members can opt to register on the IMH CPD Programme for an annual fee of £55, or join AiMH UK to access all other resources.
On completion of the IMH Portfolio, participants can choose to have their Portfolio reviewed* and upon successful review, can be entered onto the Infant Mental Health Recognition Register (IMHRR), in recognition of IMH expertise. *Fees may apply
Who can access the IMH CPD Programme?
The IMH CPD Programme is for all students ands staff working with infants and their parent/s/caregiver from pregnancy to the second year of life, to support parent/s/caregiver to promote healthy infant development. This includes students and practitioners who are, for example:
- working with infants in childcare settings, or who work with the parent-infant dyad under supervision workers such as Early Years Workers
- regulated practitioners who work autonomously with the parent-infant dyad, supported by supervision, for example, parent-infant psychotherapists, Health Visitors, psychologists, Social Workers
- regulated practitioners who deliver specialist services to parents and infants with, for example, responsibility for managing a specialist team, providing training and supervision of other practitioners; and informing and implementing service development, protocols and policies at organisational and regional levels
How will creating a IMH Portfolio benefit individual practitioners?
The AiMH UK IMH CPD Programme can be used for a number of purposes:
- Provides an overview of your professional IMH development and experience to date
- Demonstrates your specialist IMH knowledge and experience to clients and employers
- Helps to identify gaps in your skills and capabilities
- Helps to identify further development and training needs in IMH
- Helps with career development or possible career change
- Provides examples and scenarios for a CV and/or interview
- Admission to the AIMH UK IMH Recognition Register (IMHRR) upon completion and successful peer review*
- Recognition of IMH expertise
*Fee may apply
How will creating a IMH Portfolio benefit the profession overall?
The IMH CPD Programme and IMHCF have been developed to standardise the competencies – the skills, knowledge and behaviours, for infant mental health practice, that enable practitioners to deliver high quality care and the continuous improvement to services, by supporting students and staff to optimise their learning skills.
Creating a IMH Portfolio encourages all trainee and trained practitioners:
- to hold an infant’s mental health frame of mind, thereby supporting the consideration of both the perspective of the baby (including the non-verbal infant) and that of the parent. This helps perinatal and IMH practitioners to recognise the parent-infant (P-I) relationship as a dynamic system, and to be able to promote the P-I relationship
- to help ensure the workforce is suitable skilled to identify need and deliver care to parent/s/caregiver who are pregnant or have a baby, and to both promote the mental health of the baby and provide access to appropriate evidence-based treatment where there are problems, as outlined in the Healthy Child Programme (DH, 2009;2014)
The IMH CPD Programme consists of 3 levels of expertise:
If you are a student or practitioner who works with infants in a childcare setting, or who work with the parent-infant dyad under supervision, Level 1 is for you. You may be a nursery assistant or a childcare worker, for example.
If you are a student or regulated practitioner who works autonomously with the parent-infant dyad, supported by supervision, Level 2 is for you. You may be a Health Visitor, Psychologist, Social Worker or Parent-Infant Psychotherapist, for example.
You should be creating a Level 3 IMH Portfolio if you are a regulated practitioner who delivers specialist services to parents and infants with, for example, responsibility for managing a specialist team, providing training and supervision of other practitioners; and informing and implementing service development, protocols and policies at organisational and regional levels.
Building your IMH Portfolio is a straight forward process.
It may sound complicated, but don’t worry, you are only being asked to provide evidence and/or examples of your day-to-day working practices and to explain what you understand about infant mental health.
This is what you do every day, and you probably don’t even know how much you know!
Once you have registered on the AiMH UK IMH CPD Portal, you will find step by step guides to help you work through each Domain at your own pace and gradually build your own IMH Portfolio.
The AiMH UK Infant Mental Health Recognition Register (IMHRR)
The IMHRR has been created in order to acknowledge and give recognition to practitioners who have a proven expertise in infant mental health.
Students and Practitioners are required to document their infant mental health knowledge, skills and practice against the AiMH UK IMH Competency Framework and create a IMH Portfolio.
Once completed, the student or Practitioner can choose to have their IMH Portfolio reviewed* and upon a successful review, can choose to have their name added to the IMHRR, giving recognition of infant mental health skills, knowledge and practice.
*Fees may apply
Become amember
Join AiMH UK and your local hub to develop your knowledge, skills, and confidence, and access a wealth of specialist information on the AiMH UK website.
Sharing expertise on how we work with infants and their families increases the effectiveness of our work.
Register a training provider
Reach a wider audience and promote your education or training course on our dedicated IMHDirectory. The AiMH UK IMHDirectory serves as a valuable resource showcasing infant mental health training and learning opportunities.
Register today and join our community which attracts learners and practitioners from all around the UK
AIMH UKDonations
We’re using JustGiving, for donations to AiMH UK. Your donation enables us to continue our work, promoting the importance of infant mental health and making a real difference to improve outcomes for parents, babies and toddlers. Thank you for making a difference!