TITLE: WHAT ENCANTO TEACHES US ABOUT PARTNERING WITH PARENTS AND HEALING OUR INNER CHILD WOUNDS

Date:
April 15, 2025
Time: 11 am – 1 pm, AK time

WEBINAR DESCRIPTION:

As infant and early childhood educators, home visitors, and mental health practitioners, we understand that collaborating with caregivers is important for our children’s outcomes. However, some families just “rub us the wrong way” even when we’re eager to build rapport with them. In this workshop, you will deepen your understanding of attachment theories to include concepts like attachment adaptations and inner child wounds. These concepts will support you to “meet the families where they’re at” in trauma-informed and developmentally caring ways. Together, we’ll put “intergenerational transmission of trauma and resilience” into action, specifically in our partnership with families. You’ll explore these concepts through self-reflection exercises using Encanto and large group interactive discussions. You’ll walk away with more compassion for your own and the families’ inner child wounds and concrete strategies to address them. Come curious. Come as you are.

OBJECTIVES:

  1. Participants will understand the neurobiology of “being triggered” and use this knowledge to understand “challenging behaviors” they see in themselves and the families they work with.
  2. Participants will apply the lens of intergenerational transmission of trauma and adult attachment theories to promote child and family outcomes.
  3. Participants will reflect on their inner child wounds/attachment adaptations using Encanto movie characters.
  4. Participants will operationalize empathy and practice strength-based practices that go beyond "multicultural competency."
  5. Participants will experiment with one action to meet the triggered inner child wounds with compassion and boundaries.

PRESENTER:

Nat Nadha Vikitsreth, LCSW
Nat Nadha Vikitsreth, LCSW (she/her) is a dot connector, norm agitator, and lover of liberation who supports social justice curious families in their efforts to practice social justice in their parenting while re-parenting their inner child. Nat works as a nationally award-winning decolonized therapist and facilitator, a trans rights activist, and a host of the Come Back to Care Podcast. She founded Come Back to Care for anyone who loves and raises children to heal as we get free. She believes that when parents heal their inner child and internalized oppression wounds in a community, they put fragmented pieces of themselves together to show up to both parenting and community organizing with their whole selves.

Additionally, Nat is a faculty member at the Zero to Three 2023 LEARN Institute, a facilitator of the Pre-Conference Forum at the 2024 LEARN Conference, and a 2024-2026 Zero to Three Fellow. Nat is a graduate of the Erikson Institute’s Social Work Program. She also holds another master’s degree in Infancy & Early Childhood Special Education from the University of Illinois at Champaign-Urbana.

REGISTRATION LINK

TITLE: INFANT, CHILD AND YOUTH CONFERENCE
Dates:
May 5, 6 & 7, 2025



JUNE 2025
Webinar TBD

THIS IS A TWO-PART SERIES. YOU ONLY NEED TO REGISTER ONCE FOR BOTH PARTS

PART I: APPLYING AN INFANT MENTAL HEALTH LENS IN CHILD WELFARE: REMEMBERING OUR ROOTS
Date:
June 10, 2025
Time: 11 am – 1 pm, AK time

WEBINAR DESCRIPTION:

In this session, we will explore foundational IMH concepts and theories and the ways we can use them as our guide in the challenging and unique world of child welfare. We will think together about how our knowledge and skills in attachment, child development and observation can support us in finding clarity and grounding when working with the complex child welfare system.

OBJECTIVES:

  1. Participants will be able to describe the difference between attachment and bonding.
  2. Participants will be able to speak to and apply knowledge about the phases of attachment formation to their case planning discussions.
  3. Participants will learn about the value and art of observation, and its key role in working with young children.


PART II:
APPLYING AN INFANT MENTAL HEALTH LENS IN CHILD WELFARE: SUPPORTING YOUNG CHILDREN AND FAMILIES
Date:
June 17, 2025
Time: 11 am – 1 pm, AK time

WEBINAR DESCRIPTION:

In this session, participants will learn concrete recommendations and strategies that can be used to support very young children and families in child welfare. These strategies will include visitation and transition support and developmentally appropriate language that can be used with children and families.

OBJECTIVES:

  1. Participants will be able to use the training discussion and resources to provide developmentally appropriate guidance on transitions for young children in foster care.
  2. Participants will leave with developmentally appropriate words and phrases to support young children in foster care.


PRESENTER:


Faith Eidson, LMSW, IECMH-E®

Faith Eidson is a clinical social worker and an endorsed Infant and Early Childhood Mental Health Clinical Mentor. She has dedicated her career to supporting healthy relationships for babies, young children, families, and the specialized workforce that serves them. Currently, she works as a program specialist with Zero to Thrive at the University of Michigan and also provides training and reflective consultation to professionals in various settings through her private practice.

 

 

REGISTRATION LINK