Given that there is a growing body of research focused solely on the early development of the brain, more and more experts are starting to say that health care workers should begin focusing on their youngest patients for mental health services.
Whereas it was once thought that baby’s development was on cue with his/her speech, we now know that babies are capable of being significantly influenced by events in the early weeks, months and years of life. (Think about the big “to do” of Tomcat’s “silent birth”.) Long before they can speak, their little minds are at work assimilating information from the world around them.
The primary reason that infants (yes, I wrote infants) see shrinks is because of eating and or sleeping disorders. Most toddlers, on the other hand, are seen for developmental delays or behavioral problems such as excessive temper tantrums.
Early Intervention
One benefit to having early psychological evaluation and care is that professionals are able to pinpoint real problems much earlier. Of course that’s a bonus because the earlier you find the problem, the earlier you can fix it before it becomes a huge problem. This is the thinking behind Early Intervention, a program to identify and provide services to those kids who might need them.
I have no doubt, that for the parents whose children need services like these, EI is a life saver. Depending on the disability, EI can make the difference between a child who goes on to graduate high school and one that never makes it. Not only that but an EI therapist will often show mom and dad special techniques to work with their child.
Parenting Skills
Part of the push to increase mental health services to the youngest patients is to identify parents who need help with vital parenting skills.
Some programs will now offer parent/baby therapy as well. Parents learn things like how to set up a bed time routine or how a meal time routine will help improve a little one’s behavior. They also learn effective coping and discipline techniques to deal with those beloved terrible two’s.
I have to admit that when I first read this article, I was rolling my eyes. Even things like early intervention, in my mind don’t warrant a trip to the psychologist’s couch. However, I am thrilled that programs are starting to recognize the importance of good parenting. So many parents lack effective skills and strategies for helping their little ones grow up healthy.
I was recently in a McDonald’s indoor play space. There was a young mother there and she was screaming for her 2 year old son to come down. She cursed at him, screamed, threatened to leave him (but of course didn’t), and finally got him to come down by bribing him with an ice cream cone. Meanwhile, my husband told the kids that we would be leaving in 1 minute. . .and then 30 seconds. . .and then 10 seconds. She watched us, and as we were leaving she made a comment about how we must have been very lucky to get such cooperative children.
I’m thinking she could benefit from a session or two with a baby shrink.