Nurturing Connection: Promoting Early Relational Health in the Context of Inpatient Medical Care

Description & Learning Objectives

A safe, nurturing, and responsive caregiving environment during the first 1000 days of a child’s life is critical in setting a strong foundation for lifelong growth and development. Prolonged hospital stays during these early years can have a profound impact on child outcomes including neurodevelopment, emotion regulation, and relational health. Unfortunately, the intersection of pediatric psychology and infant/early childhood mental health has largely been overlooked, with little attention placed on the child-parent dyad in the medical setting. Nevertheless, it is imperative that mental health professionals working in inpatient and outpatient settings are equipped to assess, recognize, and respond to the effects of prolonged inpatient medical intervention on children and caregivers to promote relational health and family resilience. The learning objectives for this session are to:

1. Describe the unique needs of children and families facing early and prolonged inpatient medical intervention.
2. Recognize the clinical utility in dyadic and relational-focused interventions in both inpatient and outpatient settings.
3. Identify ways to integrate this relational, trauma-informed framework into current clinical practice, research, and education.

This will be a hybrid session, held live and in person from the Cohen Auditorium and simulcast via Zoom.

Continuing Education

This program has been approved for one Continuing Education Credit Hour by the National Association of Social Workers, CT and meets the continuing education criteria for Social Work, Marriage & Family Therapist, Professional Counselor, and Licensed Psychologist Licensure renewal. Additional information will be provided at the live event.