Monthly Parent/Caregiver-Child Observation

During the 2nd year of the Institute program, participants will again conduct monthly observations of a parent (or caregiver)-child dyad. This assignment is intended to:

• Strengthen your observation skills to enhance your assessment and intervention competencies; and
• Increase your competencies related to understanding the intersubjective experiences of parents/caregivers and young children while staying aware of your own experiences within the relationship.
  

GUIDELINES for Article Response Papers & Mentorship Discussions

To help clarify the purpose of the response papers, assignments, and mentorship sessions we have prepared the following guidelines.

Write brief, single paragraph responses to each assigned reading. The readings and responses are to be completed and discussed with the mentor, before the scheduled seminar.

It is helpful if the trainees and mentors agree to a plan to assure that each article/response paragraph is discussed during the mentorship sessions prior to the seminar where the content will be further explored. Mentors are also reading the articles during the month before the seminar, so please agree about the sequence of the readings and discussions so that both mentor and trainee can come prepared to discuss the same readings at each mentorship session.

Please provide your mentor with 2 copies of each written response at the mentorship session when the response will be discussed. Mentors will keep one paper and give the other to Institute staff for filing. By the final mentorship session prior to the seminar, the mentor should have and have discussed responses for every assigned reading.


When preparing written responses, please address the following points:

• Specific examples of how the reading applies to your work setting

• What you found helpful about the reading

• What questions occurred to you as a result of the reading

Please do not spend your time critiquing the writing style or vocabulary used by the authors. Also, do not spend time summarizing the article. We’ve read the articles and trust you to read them as well. We want to understand your response to the information as it relates to your work setting and your learning, what was useful, what you have questions about, etc.


Each month, Mentorship Discussions should include:

• Examples from your work that illustrate your competence as defined by the competency assessment tool (20 competencies completed spring 2007)

• Examples from your work that relate to the readings for that month

• Your experiences as you completed your monthly parent/caregiver-child observation


Monthly Parent/caregiver-Child Observation

Trainees will again be conducting monthly observations of a parent (or caregiver)-child dyad during Institute Year 2. If possible, please arrange to continue to observe the same pair observed during Institute Year 1. Observations should last no longer than 10-15 minutes. Following each monthly observation, please write a brief narrative describing the following:

1. What did you see in terms of the interaction/transaction between the caregiver and the child?

2. What did you think was happening in the baby's/child's mind during the interaction?

3. What did you think was happening in the parent/caregiver's mind during the interaction?

4. What were you thinking/feeling during the interaction?


This assignment is intended to:

• Strengthen your observation skills to enhance your assessment and intervention competencies; and

• Increase your competencies related to understanding the intersubjective experiences of parents/caregivers and young children while staying aware of your own experiences within the relationship.

You will be asked to discuss your narrative each month with your mentor before handing in a copy for your trainee file. By April, 2008 you will have observed, written, discussed, and turned in a narrative for 6 observation sessions.

TRAINEE Selection Criteria

In selecting the Trainees for the 2006-08 class, priority was given to:

• Licensed or license-eligible mental health practitioners who seek to develop their clinical skills in mental health intervention with children age birth to five and their families.
• Employment or practice in a setting with regular opportunities to work with children birth to five and their families, providing treatment, preventive intervention or providing supervision or consultation to others who provide these services directly.
• Interest, experience, and willingness to commit to regular attendance at all Institute activities.
• Willingness and time to complete required readings and seminar assignments.
• Commitment by the trainee’s sponsoring agency to support the trainee’s involvement as well as to enhance or expand services for diverse populations of children birth to five and their families.
• Agencies that provide a variety of services for children birth to five and their families, including those with a focus on preventive intervention such as child care consultation, drug treatment, early intervention, or social services, and who wish to infuse or strengthen a preventive mental health perspective were encouraged to sponsor applicants.