Determining if the Certificate Program is a Good Choice for You

Why take this program?
This certificate program offers an intensive, continuing education professional development opportunity to professionals from diverse disciplines and experiences with common interests in the field of infant, early childhood and family mental health.

This program is grounded in the principles of Infant Mental Health and informed by current empirical knowledge from affective and behavioral neuroscience, research on early attachment relationships and healthy social and emotional development. Participants will develop new skills in assessment, diagnosis and therapeutic interventions with young children and families. Participants will also have opportunities to learn from and interact with state and nationally recognized experts, meet and learn with other experienced Wisconsin professionals, develop professional support networks, participate in reflective practice experiences, and gain access to new resources.

Professional benefits from earning the certificate
As a result of participating in this program, you will have new, marketable skills that may open doors for a new client base within your current practice or work setting or lead to a new position in a high need area. Some of you will be learning how to integrate infant, early childhood and family mental health services into the work that you do. For those who currently bill, you would still bill as dictated by the type of service and your licensure. We are excited to report that Wisconsin Medicaid now requires the use of the Diagnostic Classification of Mental Health and Developmental Disorders of Infancy and Early Childhood: Revised (DC 0-3R) when completing mental health assessments for children ages 4 and under in Wisconsin. This diagnostic nosology will be taught in the Certificate Program.

Is the program a good fit with your learning style and life circumstances? 
First consider that the program requires a 13 month commitment and that all sessions will be held in Madison, Wisconsin with the exception of the opening and closing June sessions which will be held concurrently with the Wisconsin Infant and Early Childhood Mental Health Conference. This program is designed to be completed in 13 consecutive months  and involves an intensive immersion in Infant and Early Childhood  Mental Health theory and current research as well as the  practice of skills over a 2 or 3 day time period once a month. It will be important for applicants to assess if their life circumstances will support this level of commitment.

Secondly, consider your personal learning style, interests and professional goals. The sessions will consist of didactic presentation, extended periods for discussion, case studies and participation in small reflective, mentorship groups. It will be important for participants to feel comfortable with self-reflection and sharing in small groups. There will be some activities between seminar sessions such as assigned readings, reflective journaling, and infant/family observation, development of a portfolio and preparation of a final project. For those pursuing the Advanced Clinical Practice pathway, there will be bi-monthly individual reflective clinical consultation sessions.

Required attendance
The certificate program is designed to be both integrative and cumulative, with activities and discussions potentially drawing on content and concepts across many different sessions. As such, participation in each session in sequence throughout the year  is an important component of this training program. In addition, maintaining a stable cohort for the duration of the training program is critical in fostering trust, collaboration, and reflection within the mentoring groups

Individual program enrollment options
The sessions within this certificate program are designed for those who enroll in the University of Wisconsin Infant, Early Childhood and Family Mental Health Certificate Program, only. The integrity of the cohort group will be maintained throughout the program.

Confidentiality
Ground rules will be established to protect the confidentiality of the case discussions that occur throughout the program. This approach honors the scope of practice for the licensed professionals in the program and addresses HIPAA and FERPA requirements. No video or audio taping will be allowed without consent.