1. Mental Health: We All Have It
Melissa Bastien and Meredith Hill, LCSW, MSW

2. Early Childhood Mental Health
Mental health is an essential part of health and well being
The mental health of young children is linked to the well being of the people who care for them
Promoting the mental health of infants and young children can make a positive difference for years to come
Positive relationships support positive mental health

3. InBrief: Early Childhood Mental Health

4. Mental health is an essential part of health and well being
The Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACE) study reveals a powerful relationship between our emotional experiences as children and physical and mental health as adults, as well as the major cause of adult mortality in the United States. (American Journal of Preventative Medicine, 1998)

5. In Brief: The Science of Early Childhood Development

6. Relationships and mental health
Positive relationships support positive mental health
Positive relationships require connection.
Connection requires four critical elements:
Eye contact
Presence
Touch
Playfulness
(Conscious Discipline, 2015)

7. InBrief: Executive Function: Skills for Life and Learning

8. Caregiving and mental health
The mental health of young children is linked to the well being of the people who care for them
Caregiving does not begin and end with parents.
Research suggests that caregivers can ease the negative affects of stress on children. (The Center on the Developing Child at Harvard University, 2010)
The quality of teaching begins in the hearts and minds of the teachers. (Conscious Discipline, 2015)

9. InBrief: The Science of Neglect

10. Mental health and infants and children
Promoting the mental health of infants and young children can make a positive difference for years to come
Young children’s healthy social and emotional development is critical to school readiness and positive long term outcomes. (National Research Council & Institute of Medicine, 2000)
To build better futures we need to build better brains.