Seminars & Training

AAIMH WA Seminar Series

The AAIMH WA Seminars are aligned to specific competencies from the AAIMH Competency Guidelines®.

The seminars are held on a bimonthly basis and follow a developmental pathway to build skills progressively across the core areas of knowledge, skills and practice in Infant Mental Health.

Due to COVID-19 we are commencing the year with a webinar. Members and non-members in rural and remote areas are warmly invited to participate.

We will keep you informed on when we can again meet face to face and we will continue to offer on-line participation for regional practitioners, both members and non-members.

2021 Upcoming Seminars


Monday 16th August: AGM
Online and Face to Face Seminar
SJOGH Subiaco, Perth
6-8pm
5.45pm - Registration
6pm - AGM 

Gillian Griffiths presents:
Co-creating experiences of safety and comfort in healthcare - Considerations in the prevention and management of Paediatric Medical Traumatic Stress (PMTS)

Childhood routines of immunisations, dental care, visiting a GP or emergency department and accessing specialist or surgical care can be stressful for caregivers and their children. In hospital up to 80% of children experience repeated painful and stressful experiences each day.

In this workshop Gillian will share the evidence behind medical traumatic stress in children and families and explore practical, systemic approaches to reducing stress, distress, anxiety and trauma. Using the neurobiology of stress and trauma, and attachment and polyvagal theories as a foundation, a developmentally attuned approach to co-creating health care experiences of comfort and regulation will be shared.

Gillian Griffiths is an Occupational Therapist with over 20 years’ experience as a senior therapist and program manager in both acute and community care settings, and a passionate facilitator of professional development and caregiver programs. She is currently co-leading the KKIND (Keeping Kids In No Distress) Program at Perth Children’s Hospital, is co-director of Engaging Your Senses and author of SENSE-ational Mealtimes
(www.sense-ationalmealtimes.com.au).

Gillian supports families, teams and professionals across Australia and internationally to provide effective and sensitive care that minimises stress, anxiety and trauma in daily care routines.

AAIMH Competencies addressed:

  • Direct service skills
  • Safety
  • Responding with Empathy


    For tickets:  https://www.eventbrite.com.au/e/aaimh-wa-august-seminar-and-agm-tickets-162673188887

    Past Seminars 

    Thursday 22 April 2021: DOUBLE SEMINAR

    with Dr Kelli MacMillan and David Ansell

    Part 1:
    'Maternal depression and trauma and the emotional availability of mothers at
    six months postpartum: findings from the Mercy Pregnancy and Emotional
    Well-being Study'
    Dr Macmillan will first discuss the factors that can influence maternal interactions with the infant to provide an insight into infant development and mental health. Her research explores the quality of mother-infant interactions assessed using the Emotional Availability (EA) Scales coding system. The research will be discussed to highlight the importance of tailored clinical intervention for mother-infant dyads, with the presence of a maternal risk factor alone not sufficient to determine a woman’s capacity to be emotionally available to her infant at six months postpartum. 

    Part 2
    'Using Geo-Spatial Maps and Life Course Research to Improve Child Health -
    The Child Development Atlas (CDA)'
    David Ansel will explore the Child Development Atlas (CDA). The CDA aims to be an innovative, free to access, on-line interactive mapping tool to identify and investigate spatial patterns in core population health, social and administrative data sets, and geo-locate services. The CDA maps WA Government agency data relating to children and youth, along with other data, such as relating to community, government, and business infrastructure, to provide a visual representation of the characteristics of community at a suburb or neighbourhood level. The use of geo-spatial data to improve child health, with a focus on interagency planning in each community will be discussed.

    AAIMH Competencies addressed:

    • Direct Service Skills
    • Screening & Assessment
    • Intervention /treatment planning


    Presenters: 
    Dr     Kelli MacMillan is a Post-Doctoral Research Fellow in Perinatal Mental Health and a Clinical Psychologist (Registrar). Kelli is interested in factors that influence child development from pregnancy and has published in peer reviewed journals regarding the development of the early mother-infant relationship. She has specialist training and experience in the observational assessment of mother- infant interactions, as well as of maternal mental health in pregnancy and the postpartum, and early childhood psychiatric disorders. Kelli currently practises clinically in the public sector in Perth with women in the perinatal period. She is passionate about perinatal mental health, and the possible impact we can have on maternal and infant outcomes by providing vulnerable women with clinical support from pregnancy.
    David Ansell     has worked as a senior research manager, teacher, Principal, leader in the not-for-profit sector and senior public servant. A focus of his work has been addressing disadvantage through education, youth at risk, early childhood s and public sector management. In 2020 David was employed by the Telethon Kids Institute as Co-Director of CoLab, a partnership between the Telethon Kids Institute and the Minderoo Foundation. A flagship project was the development of the Child Development Atlas.


    Date:    Thursday 22 April 2021
    Time:    6.00 pm - 8.15 pm (WST) - Zoom
    Cost:    AAIMH members  $10
                 Non - members $20
                 Student members $5
                 Student Non-members $10

    Book via     Eventbrite at: www.eventbrite.com.au/e/aaimh-wa-april-double-seminar-tickets-149098657097
    Zoom Meeting details will be emailed 24 hours before the event.

    Registration is limited, so book now.

    Click here to download the flyer for this double seminar.
    For any queries please email: aaimhiwatraining2@gmail.com or 0403 696 049

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    Thursday 18 February 2021 - Online webinar 

    'First 2000 days: Aboriginal parents’ and children’s social and emotional wellbeing'

    In this presentation, Professor Rhonda Marriott will explore research that focusses on the social and emotional wellbeing of Aboriginal parents and children in the critical first 5 years of life. Facts, myths and complexities will be considered and participants will have an opportunity to interactively consider how those and the research evidence, inform their practice.

    AAIMH Competencies addressed:

    • Working with Others: building and maintaining relationships, collaborating
    • Communicating: listening, speaking
    • Reflection: curiosity, self-awareness, professional/personal development


    Presenter: Professor Rhonda Marriott,

    AM, PhD, Registered Nurse, Midwife, Inaugural Director of the Ngangk Yira Research, Centre for Aboriginal Health and Social Equity at Murdoch University. Professor Marriott brings strong cultural and scientific leadership to the Ngangk Yira Research Centre’s translation of maternal, early childhood and youth research outcomes into policy and practice with a focus on 'Aboriginal Families, Healthy and Resilient'.

    ----------
    Date:        Thursday 18 February 2021
    Time:    6.00 pm - 8.00 pm (WST)
    Cost:    AAIMH members  $10
                 Non - members $20
                 Student members $5
                 Student Non-members $10

    Book: via www.eventbrite.com until 4pm on Thursday 18 February.

    The Zoom Meeting details to be forwarded upon ticket purchase.

    For any queries: aaimhiwatraining2@gmail.com or 0403 696 049

    Registration is limited, so book now.

    -------------------------------------

    2020 Seminars

    Thursday 11 June 2020 - Online webinar 

    Powerpoint presentation available to download here

    Presenter: Professor Evalotte Mörelius, specialist in Paediatric and Neonatal Nursing, Professor of Nursing (Children and Young People) at Perth Children's Hospital and Edith Cowan University

    'How the early-life environment affects the development of our stress system'
    Professor Mörelius will explore how our early-life environment affects the development of our stress system. Parental closeness, a sense of security, emotional availability and nourishment support the development of a healthy stress system, while long-term sickness, pain and stressful emotional environment may impact it negatively. As a way of example, this lecture will focus on the preterm infant in neonatal intensive care.

    AAIMH Competencies addressed: Theoretical Foundations: Attachment, Separation, Trauma & Loss. Disorders of Infancy / Early Childhood

    Thursday 20 February 2020

    Presenters:
    the Hon Alana Clohesy MLC, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for Health; Mental Health, who will provide an update on the State Government's perspective on perinatal and infant mental health, and
    Ms Louise Lamont, Executive Officer, Phoenix Support & Advocacy Service (main presenter): 'Infant mental health and self regulation'
    Louise's presentation will highlight the key components of self-regulation as developed by Canadian neuroscientist Dr Stuart Shanker. This framework is helpful for understanding the impact of stressors (often hidden) in infancy and childhood on an infant or child's ability to regulate.

    2019 Seminars

    21st November 2019  - Final seminar for 2019
    "Churchill Fellowship: Forest Kindergartens and the use of nature in Paediatric Therapy" Presented by Griffin Longley.

    8th August 2019
    Dr Raffaella Salvo presented on 'High risk infants - promoting infant mental health in the child protection system.'

    For presentation slides, click here

    INFANT MENTAL HEALTH AWARENESS WEEK 2019

    13th June 2019
    Lorraine Rose will present a seminar on 'Learning to Love: Normal Developmental Processes.'

    See Lorraine Rose's slides on Normal Development here
    and Early Primitive Processes - the baby in us  here

    16th May 2019
    Anne Alvarez will join us via video-conference to present 'Developmentally-Informed Psychotherapy of Autism'. 

    21st February 2019
    Anne Buist will join us vis video-conference to present 'mother-infant forensic psychiatry: the good, bad and the ugly'.

    See Professor Anne Buist's powerpoint slides here

    Training events

    See Events Calendar for upcoming state, national and international events.