Membership and Endorsement® Renewals due January 31, 2021
All NJ-AIMH membership and Endorsement® renewals are due January 31, 2021.
- Payment can be made via PayPal. Please note you do not need a PayPal account to complete this transaction, you can pay as a “guest” via PayPal.
- Alternately, you can mail a check to NJ-AIMH, PO Box 43662, Upper Montclair, NJ 07043.
Once we receive your payment, you will receive a confirmation email with your membership confirmation.
If you are also renewing your Endorsement®, please click below for instructions for renewing via the Endorsement Application System (EASy).
Our Babies Can’t Wait – A Statement from the Alliance for the Advancement of Infant Mental Health
As an affiliate of the Alliance for the Advancement of Infant Mental Health,
NJ-AIMH fully supports the following statement:
As part of the global infant/early childhood mental health community, we are committed to deepening conversation and promoting reflection and action to address ongoing bias, structural racism, and racial violence that impacts the health and wellbeing of all our babies and their families.
We believe in the power of relationships to raise a collective voice against racism. We stand in solidarity with communities of color across the nation and the world and commit ourselves to mitigating the chronic trauma that racism has had on generations of children of color, their families, and the infant/early childhood workforce.
We hold in mind parents and caregivers of color who are tasked with protecting and creating a safe space for their babies while also managing their own emotions, as we also hold in mind the infant/early childhood mental health workforce of color who strive to hold and comfort families while managing their own emotions.
We believe that change and healing starts with each one of us. We must intentionally examine the ways we contribute to the continuation or dismantling of racial trauma and structural oppression.
We must respond with purpose and action. Our babies can’t wait.
With hope and love,
Staff and Board of Directors
Alliance for the Advancement of Infant Mental Health
Becoming a Cultural Ambassador in Child Care Settings Part I
Thursday, February 18, 2021, from 12:00 PM to 1:30 PM EST
Becoming a Cultural Ambassador in Child Care Settings Part I
Learn how to be intentional in supporting multi-cultural students. Become a cultural coach by integrating strategies to protect cultural identities, preserve every student’s first language and promote academic success. Develop your own roadmap while creating a learning environment supportive and encouraging to all across a variety of cultures.
Click here to register.
Becoming a Cultural Ambassador in Child Care Settings Part II
Thursday, February 25, 2021, from 12:00 PM to 1:00 PM EST
Becoming a Cultural Ambassador in Child Care Settings Part II
Register now to save your place in this session to share feedback from Part I.
Click here to register.
COVID-19 and Impact on Teachers, School Administrators, and Families
Kelly Gets a Vaccine: How We Beat Coronavirus
Kelly Gets a Vaccine: How We Beat Coronavirus
by Lauren Block MD MPH and Adam Block PhD; Illustrated by Debby Rahmalia
Discover along with 8-year-old Kelly the science behind the COVID-19 vaccine, what to expect during and after the vaccine, and how vaccination will help us begin to move beyond the pandemic.
Authors of “Kelly Stays Home: The Science of Coronavirus” and “Kelly Goes Back to School: More Science on Coronavirus” which have been downloaded over 25,000 times are back with their most important book yet on how the vaccine works and the importance of being vaccinated.
IECMH Clinical Workforce Solution Pathways
We are pleased to share a 5-part graphic that ZERO TO THREE just released!
IECMH Clinical Workforce Solution Pathways was co-created by stakeholders from around the country to capture the myriad of pathways of influence and opportunity related to increasing the size, diversity, quality, and accessibility of the Infant and Early Childhood Mental Health (IECMH) Clinical Workforce.
NJ-AIMH is pleased further to note that four of our members were a part of the contributors group: Gerry Costa, Kathy Mulrooney, Joaniko Kohchi, and Muhammad Zeshan, MD, our newest Board member, a current ZERO TO THREE Fellow.
Take a look at this wonderful document and join me in thanking our members for their work.
Diez consejos para hablar con niños sobre la violencia en el Capitolio
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Ten Tips for Talking with Children about the Violence at the Capitol
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If you feel uncertain about how to start this conversation with children, practice with adults first. Notice the parts of the conversation where you might need assistance and ask for support from other adults.
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Ask children what they know and what they have heard. Listen to the child’s story and follow the child’s lead. Use simple language and correct any misunderstood accounts. Tell a child what they need to know, not all that you know.
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Be there and be calm. Monitor your own emotion and tone of voice. Pay attention to your gestures, affect, and voice because children pay special attention to these ways of communicating. Children scan the faces, voices, and movements of others to discern safety. Your presence, voice, words, soft and loving touches, provide each child with the best ways of feeling safe.
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Share your feelings. It is okay and important for children to know that the adults in their lives have the same feelings when bad things happen. Ask about their feelings. Often children will experience and express their feelings through their body states. Ask them “what” and “where” they feel (e.g., head, tummy, chest, neck, etc.) as well as “how” do they feel.
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Recognize that there are some feelings that we can only share and cannot fix: Children need us to be there with and for them at such times. It’s appropriate to both not have an answer and be with the children in their sadness and confusion.
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While we encourage telling children about the events of January 6th, monitor repeated exposure to images and reports of the events. Provide enough exposure to inform, but not frighten.
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If children do get scared, remember the 3R’s of security: Relationships, Routines and Restoration. Highlight relationships with familiar and consistent caregivers, family, and friends. Protect and increase routines that are familiar and normalizing.
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Provide structure and communicate safety: Uncertainty is the province of adulthood. While we as adults may feel unsure of the state of our democracy, we must always let children know that we will take care of them and protect them.
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A sense of mastery can help alleviate fear and uncertainty. Encourage your children to get involved in a community or service program such as collecting items for a food bank, making a call to their Congressperson, signing a petition, or writing a letter to someone in local government about something that they would like to help change in their community.
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Remember to take care of yourself: We have all been living with the collective stress of Covid-19 and political uncertainty for a l-o-n-g time. Yet, we know that if the adults in a child’s life are overwhelmed, overstressed, and overtired, it will be more difficult for the child to feel safe, secure and stable. Prioritize the cultivation of the “ABCs” of self-care: awareness, balance, and connection, in your own life.
(Costa, G. & Mulcahy, K, 2021)
Empowering Clinicians in Perinatal and Infant Mental Health in Low Resource Communities
Please join us Wednesday, January 13, 2021, from 12:30 PM to 2:00 PM EST as ZERO TO THREE Fellow, Muhammad Zeshan, MD, leads a discussion of his successful work piloting an Infant and Perinatal Mental Health Program in Pakistan. This session will explore strategies to support parents struggling with PTSD, postpartum depression, or medical conditions. Learn what role cultural, religious, and social values have in building empathy and non-judgmental approaches for distressed families.
Dr. Zeshan is a Clinical Assistant Professor in Psychiatry at Rutgers New Jersey Medical School as well as a Board Member of NJ-AIMH. He is the recipient of 10 national and international awards for academic excellence, teaching, leadership from the American Psychiatry Association, American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry, Association of Directors of Psychiatry Residency Training, and Nishtar Alumni of North America.
Certificates will be awarded for 1 hour of Infant Mental Health Endorsement Competencies.
Practitioners can access 1.5 hours of Continuing Education Credits through participation and a $35 fee in addition to the registration fee.
Current NJ-AIMH Members: please click on the promo code space to draw down the appropriate NJAIMH2021 code for either the session alone or to add the CE fee to your member-discounted rate.
Membership Renewals are due January 31, 2021
All NJ-AIMH membership renewals are due January 31, 2021.
- Payment can be made via PayPal. Please note you do not need a PayPal account to complete this transaction, you can pay as a “guest” via PayPal.
- Alternately, you can mail a check to NJ-AIMH, PO Box 43662, Upper Montclair, NJ 07043.