Infant Mental Health: Making a Difference.

Practicing psychologists are increasingly identifying serious problems in behavior, emotional development, and regulation in infants and very young children that result in impaired family functioning and relationships. Often these child challenges are in combination with a range of parental concerns including addictions, homelessness, teen parenthood, and unresolved feelings from the past. Infant mental health (IMH) is a broad field encompassing theory, research, and interventions with very young children and their families. This article provides an overview of IMH concepts, with special focus on assessment and interventions that can be integrated into the psychologist's current practice. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)