By: Dr. Cheri Shapiro, Director
When it comes to mental health, we need to remember that the foundations of mental health as well as health and development begin in the prenatal and early childhood (0-5) age range. Critical attention and support are needed for infants, young children, and their caregivers.
Important work is happening in South Carolina to support infant and early childhood mental health arena. One effort is designed to help South Carolina to more fully adopt the Pyramid Model for Supporting Social Emotional Competence in Infants and Young Children.
New opportunities for training in evidence-based interventions supporting infant and early childhood mental health are also emerging from this effort. Two interventions that come to mind are Parent Child Psychotherapy and Attachment Biobehavioral Catch-up (ABC). For more information on these opportunities, please visit the website for the SC Infant Mental Health Association.
Additional evidence-based interventions for our youngest citizens and their families include Nurse Family Partnership and Parents As Teachers, both of which have a strong presence in our state. We are lucky to have such a strong focus on helping families with infants and young children the opportunity to have a strong start to life!