Resources shared by members of AiMH UK, for supporting parents with infant mental health from pregnancy to age three.
There are also good resources in the Resources Sharing Forum for logged in members. If you have resources to share, please add them in the Resources Sharing forum and suggest them for this page.
How Lockdown Affects Babies
BBC Video with Dr Abigail Wright, Educational Psychologist & AiMH Wales Hub Member
In this short video, Abi acknowledges the difficulties that new parents such as herself have faced during lock-down but also gives a hopeful message about all the wonderful things that parents can do to continue to support their babies' development and well-being during this time.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/av/health-52507731
This content is for logged-in members of AiMH UK. If your work is concerned with babies and infants from conception to age three, or with their parents and carers, then join AiMH UK.Handouts to share with parents
Sometimes it can be helpful to pass on a handout to parents when they just need some more information or are simply curious. This can be supportive of infant mental health as it provides an opportunity for developmental guidance. The same applies when a session has brought up some aspect of development (or theory) they would like to think about. Any handout should be discussed, not simply left with no shared thought. It sets up an opportunity to enhance reflective function, a key aspect of parenting for infant mental health. A selection of handouts are available to members on the Resources Sharing Forum. The website of Zero to Three is worth exploring too. Understanding Childhood holds the leaflets for parents originally commissioned by The Child Psychotherapy Trust. All useful, open access, although some are a bit dated.
Rupture, Repair, Resilience (and Kintsugi)
A Blog by Dr Nicola Canale, Specialist Educational Psychologist, South Wales
“There is a crack in everything.
That’s how the light gets in.”
Leonard Cohen, Selected Poems, 1956-1968
A few weeks ago, the focus of our lock-down art class was ‘Kintsugi’ – the Japanese custom of repairing broken or cracked items with gold.
Once completed, beautiful seams of gold glint in the cracks of the item, giving a unique appearance to each “repaired” piece.
This method celebrates each items unique history by emphasising its fractures and breaks instead of hiding or disguising them and often makes the repaired piece even more beautiful and interesting than the original.
I reflected on how this processes also makes an item stronger and more resilient to withstanding future knocks and bumps and about the similarities between Kintsugi and a concept known as ‘rupture and repair’.
Getting Through Lockdown with a Baby
A Blog by Dr Elizabeth Gregory Consultant Clinical Psychologist, Aneurin Bevan University Health Board
In this blog, Liz shares her thoughts on getting through lock-down with a baby using the helpful acronym T.R.U.S.T.
This content is for logged-in members of AiMH UK. If your work is concerned with babies and infants from conception to age three, or with their parents and carers, then join AiMH UK.