Introductory Certificate in Infant Mental Health and Certificate in Perinatal Mental Health
These courses will appeal to anyone working with perinatal families, including midwives, CaFHS and child protection staff, GPs, staff of NGOs, and private practitioners.
The Introductory Certificate in Infant Mental Health and Introductory Certificate in Perinatal Mental Health run for 10 weeks each on Wednesday afternoons from 3 to 6pm. This program is only available face-to-face and delivered by a faculty of experienced clinicians including psychiatrists, psychologists and other therapists with expertise in infant mental health.
The courses complement each other, as one concentrates on the infant and the other on pregnant and postnatal women. They may be undertaken sequentially or as separate stand-alone programs, depending on the student’s educational needs.
Enrolments are encouraged from anyone working with infants and toddlers and/or their families, in particular from childcare, early childhood, CaFHS, WCHN staff, NGOs, CAMHS, private practice practitioners, child protection or mental health services.
These courses will also appeal to anyone working with perinatal families, including midwives, CaFHS and child protection staff, GPs, staff of NGOs, private practitioners, etc.
Dates: Wednesdays, 1 May – 3 July 2024, from 3pm to 6pm
Location: Helen Mayo House, Glenside Health Services Precinct, Mulberry Road, Glenside
The aims of this course are to:
- Provide basic knowledge and skills to those who work with infants and their families.
- Improve sense of confidence and competence in practice, particularly around understanding emotional needs of the woman and her family.
- Enable workers to reflect on how their own views and feelings impact in their work so that they can effectively use themselves in their work.
- Become familiar with perinatal mental health concepts in greater depth, to provide access to reading material and to see and hear the views of professionals and consumers in this area.
Course work will include:
- Overview of perinatal mental health disorders
- Cultural Aspects of Perinatal Mental Health
- Consumer viewpoint
- The importance of maternal mental health in pregnancy / Working with families experiencing domestic violence
- Birth trauma, perinatal depression, borderline personality disorder
- Elements of parenting: Matrescence and perinatal loss
- Fathers
- Utilising DBT skills to support parents in the perinatal period
- Couples and perinatal work
- The impact of infertility and assisted reproduction techniques
- Eating disorders
- Case Supervision in small groups.
Assessment will be undertaken in the following way:
- 80% attendance is required
- Contribution to small group discussions
- One 10-minute presentation on a topic relevant to that person's workplace
Students are required to successfully complete each of the above assessment requirements.
Cost of the program varies for registrants (limited registrations per groups below):
- Full Fee-paying – $600
- WCHN/CaFHS staff, full-time students – $300
- Aboriginal and Torrens Strait Islander workers – $100
- CAMHS and Helen Mayo House – Free (email approval is required from your manager to secure a place).
* If seeking a discounted fee, please email HelenMayoHouse@sa.gov.au explaining your eligibility.
Once you have received your acceptance email from Helen Mayo House, you will be provided with the contact details to make payment.
For all enquiries, email Health.PIMHSHelenMayoHouse@sa.gov.au or telephone (08) 7087 1047.
NOTE: This program complements the Introductory Certificate in InfantMental Health program. They may be undertaken sequentially or as stand-alone programs, depending on the student’s educational needs.
Dates: Wednesdays, 31 January – 3 April 2024, from 3pm to 6pm
The aims of this course are to:
- Provide basic knowledge and skills to those who work with infants and their families.
- Enable workers to reflect on how their own views and feelings impact in their work so that they can effectively use themselves in their work.
- Become familiar with infant mental health concepts with access to reading material, and in particular to other people who work in the same area.
- Improve their sense of confidence and competence in their work, particularly around understanding infant and family emotional needs.
Course work will include:
- Basic theories relevant to working with infants and their families, in particular attachment and systems theories.
- The Infant Observation Experience: Observing an infant once a week for the duration of the course and afterwards writing notes to support discussion about the experiences of observation.
- How to understand what is happening inside an infant and how to best help that infant’s emotional development.
- How to recognize when things are not going well and what to do in this situation.
Special Note regarding the Infant Observation Experience:
Participants will be required to find a suitable infant* aged less than 12 months to observe by the time the course commences or shortly thereafter.
*A suitable infant is defined as one who is not close to or a part of your immediate circle of family and friends, is not a client or relative of a client at your workplace, and is available to be observed with their primary caregiver for one hour per week, preferably at their home but possibly at another location if agreed with the infant’s family.
Assessment will be undertaken in the following way:
- 80% attendance is required
- Contribution to small group infant observation group discussions
- One 10-minute presentation on a topic relevant to that person's workplace.
Students are required to successfully complete each of the above assessment requirements.
For all enquiries, email Health.PIMHSHelenMayoHouse@sa.gov.au or telephone (08) 7087 1047.
NOTE: This program complements the Introductory Certificate in Perinatal Mental Health program, focusing on the pregnant and postnatal woman. They may be undertaken sequentially or as stand-alone programs, depending on the student’s educational needs.