Infant, Early Childhood Mental Health

Great Beginnings

One of our most intriguing new programs is Great Beginnings, an infant and early childhood mental health clinic for children under 5. It provides assessments and therapy for children who have experienced or witnessed violence. Someday, we hope, programs such as Great Beginnings will end the “cycle of abuse” that so often sees abused youngsters abusing their own children later in life.

It is well-known that much of a person’s brain is developed in the first five years of life. At no other point is one’s personality so malleable. Thanks in large part to funding from the Victims of Crime Act, our infant mental health specialists treat emotional trauma immediately … before it leads to other behaviors.

Since small children are not conversational, therapy often focuses on improving the relationship between parent (or principal caregiver) and child. The strategy is “Heal the relationship, heal the child.” Casa de los Niños has high hopes the long-range impact of Great Beginnings and similar program could have a major influence on family life.