Infant and early childhood mental health: Connecting with children and families

Emerging Minds and Royal Australian College of General Practitioners (RACGP), March 2022

Related to Child and family, Child mental health, Infant mental health

GPs play a crucial role in the mental health and wellbeing of infants and young children. Based on a case study with a focus on practice, this webinar explores key concepts and evidence of infant and early childhood mental health, and the importance of using a child-centred and family-focused approach. The practice skills required to effectively engage and connect with young children and their families, and related practice challenges are also discussed.

Discover more resources

Webinar

Engaging with parents and infants in the first thousand days

Emerging Minds and Mental Health Professionals' Network (MHPN)

This webinar features a facilitated interdisciplinary panel discussion of a case study. The panel includes Dr Nick Kowalenko (psychiatrist), Mandy Seyfang (OT/Infant mental health therapist) and Jonathon Main (Relationships Australia). Dan Moss, Emerging Minds’ Workforce Development Manager facilitates the discussion.
Short article

An exploration of the use of family therapy in a Perinatal Infant Mental Health Service

Jessica White

This short article has been adapted from a paper: ‘Does a perinatal infant mental health team hold the family in mind? Opportunities and challenges for working systemically in this specialised field’, based on a small, qualitative study of perinatal infant mental health clinicians, that was recently published in the Australian and New Zealand Journal of Family Therapists.
Webinar

Identifying and responding to child sexual abuse: Supporting the mental health of children and young people

Child Family Community Australia & Emerging Minds

This webinar combines practice and lived experience to explore how we as a sector can better identify and respond to child sexual abuse and support victims and survivors to heal and recover. It is intended to complement ‘Trauma prevention and early intervention approaches with children and young people’ which was broadcast in September 2025.
Webinar

Beginning child aware conversations with parents who use substances

Emerging Minds and Mental Health Professionals' Network (MHPN)

In this webinar with the Mental Health Professionals Network (MHPN), our multidisciplinary panel will explore and identify reasons that may underlie school attendance difficulties. This presentation will promote the value of partnership-based, trauma-informed strategies to support a contextualised understanding of each child’s unique needs in education settings.
Guide

Australian Evidence-Based Clinical Practice Guideline For Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD)

Australasian ADHD Professionals Association (AADPA)
Video

What is a child and family health nurse?

Emerging Minds

Learn more about how a practice nurse can support you and your family.
Short article

Self-harm in primary school-aged children

Dr Laura Gobey, Australian Institute of Family Studies (AIFS)

This article provides a summary of the research evidence on self-harm behaviours in primary school-aged children. It outlines what self-harm behaviours are, how common they are, and why primary school-aged children may be self-harming.
Webinar

Towards a comprehensive child mental health system: Exploring workforce availability

Emerging Minds

This webinar is intended for organisational and systems leaders across the health, education, social and community services sectors, as well as practitioners with an interest in workforce development.
Research summary

Highlights in child mental health research: September 2025

Prepared by AIFS

The August 2025 research summary provides a selection of recently released papers, systematic reviews, and meta-analyses related to infant and child mental health. Each summary includes an introductory overview of the content for the month, followed by a list of selected articles. Each article is accompanied by a brief synopsis that presents the key messages and highlights. Links to abstracts, full-text articles and related resources, where available, are provided.
Resource summary

Resources for supporting Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children and families

These resources explore how non-Indigenous practitioners and services can develop genuine connections with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people and communities to create the best conditions for effective service delivery; services based on respect, learning and creating shared understandings.
Resource summary

Resources for supporting infants and children in disasters

This practice guide is a series of resources on child-centred and family-focused approaches in disaster preparedness, response and recovery. It aims to equip you with foundational knowledge and evidence-informed approaches to support infants, children and their families during and after disasters, and promote their long-term healing and wellbeing.
Resource summary

GP resources

See all the accredited online courses, assessment tools, webinars, podcasts and family digital health resources Emerging Minds offers to support general practitioners/GPs in supporting children’s mental health from birth through to age 12 years.

This resource is part of the following toolkits

GP toolkit

224 Resources
Toolkit Sections:

Infant and early childhood mental health: Connecting with children and families

Emerging Minds and Royal Australian College of General Practitioners (RACGP), March 2022

Discover more resources

Engaging with parents and infants in the first thousand days

An exploration of the use of family therapy in a Perinatal Infant Mental Health Service

Identifying and responding to child sexual abuse: Supporting the mental health of children and young people

Beginning child aware conversations with parents who use substances

Australian Evidence-Based Clinical Practice Guideline For Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD)

What is a child and family health nurse?

Self-harm in primary school-aged children

Towards a comprehensive child mental health system: Exploring workforce availability

Highlights in child mental health research: September 2025

Resources for supporting Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children and families

Resources for supporting infants and children in disasters

GP resources

This resource is part of the following toolkits

GP toolkit

Toolkit Sections: