PCAP-IMH TRAINING DESCRIPTION
WA-IMH WEBSITE
In 2010, the Washington State Parent Child Assistance Program (PCAP) offered a yearlong intensive community-based infant mental health (IMH) training. The grant-supported
training1 was designed to increase the number of local early intervention and mental health
professionals capable of delivering relationship-based infant mental health services to families
impacted by substance abuse and to other at-risk and underserved families. The training served
as a pilot for conducting a community-based IMH training within a set of competency and
endorsement guidelines for a multi-disciplinary group of professionals.
The PCAP-IMH training was organized around the Michigan Association for Infant
Mental Health (MI-AIMH) Competency Guidelines and used a syllabus adapted from a similar
two-year community-based training offered in New Mexico by the Las Cumbres ECMH
Training Institute (Relationship-Based Practice In Rural Settings). Seventeen trainees, all with
masters degrees and licenses/credentials in their respective fields, and representing seven local
agencies2 participated. Disciplines represented included marriage and family therapy, social
work, special education, chemical dependency, mental health, physical and occupational therapy,
and speech-language pathology. The training included 18 seminar/case conferences (72 hours),
group reflective supervision (50 hours), and a required year-long infant/toddler observation.
Trainees prepared professional portfolios, submitted endorsement applications to MI-AIMH, and
took the national MI-AIMH written test. The training team was composed of four professionals,
two from the University of Washington and two from the community.3 Childhaven provided the
venue for all lecture and reflective supervision sessions.
Based on their professional portfolios, exam results, and documentation of sufficient
supervised relationship-based IMH work, three trainees received endorsement as Infant Mental
Health Specialists (Level III). Fourteen trainees received endorsement as Infant and Family
Specialists (Level II) but as a result of the training all had completed several requirements for
Level III endorsement. The trainees have continued meeting monthly for ongoing
interdisciplinary professional support and development through peer consultation, case
presentations, and small group study. One member (Level III) started a bi-monthly IMH
consultation/supervision group for staff at her agency; others have sought further individual
reflective supervision and IMH training experiences to further their endorsement process.
Several members attended the Idaho Association for Infant Mental Health’s 2011 Summer
Intensive in Boise. Another member attended the Consortium of US WAIMH Affiliates meeting
at the Zero to Three National Training Institute in December, 2011. The group is working
towards organizing year-long community-based reflective supervision experience (group and
individual) for those needing such supervision to complete their Level III endorsement
requirements.
If you are interested in finding out more about the training, please contact any of the
following people: Barbara Cobb (bcobb@cpcwa.org); Sandy Jaecksch
(sandra.jaecksch@comcast.net); Kim Kanzler (Kim.Kanzler@encompassnw.org), or Janet
Huggins (jhuggins@u.washington.edu).
____________________________________________
1
Supplemental funds from a SAMHSA/CSAP grant (H79 SP014008; Principal Investigator,
Therese Grant, Ph.D.)
2
Agencies represented included Community Psychiatric Clinic; Navos; Childhaven; Encompass;
Federal Way Birth to Three; Kindering; and Evergreen Manor.
3
Donna Weston, Ph.D. (Clinical Psychologist, Infant Mental Health Mentor-Level IV,
University of Washington Department of Psychiatry, Fetal Alcohol and Drug Unit); Sandy
Jaecksch, MA, LMHC (Infant Mental Health Mentor-Level IV; Jaecksch Consulting); Haruko
Choosakul, MA, MHP, CMHS (Infant Mental Health Specialist-Level III; Navos); and Janet
Huggins, Ph.D. (Clinical Psychologist; University of Washington Department of Psychiatry,
Fetal Alcohol and Drug Unit/Washington State Parent-Child Assistance Program).