World Association for Infant Mental Health - WAIMH

21/11/2025

Marram-Ngala Ganbu (‘We are one’) is a First Nations led, trauma-informed approach to Children’s Court hearings for child protection matters in Victoria, Australia. This culturally grounded model reframes adversarial legal processes into more inclusive, family-led conversations, centering Aboriginal kinship, healing, and the wellbeing of infants. With symbolic elements like the possum skin cloak and coolamon, and sustained support for families, the program has led to more Aboriginal children staying with family, and greater culturally sensitive therapeutic jurisprudence throughout the Children’s Court. The paper highlights the need to move beyond reform within colonial systems toward First Nations led transformation. Read the full paper by Ashley Morris and Nicole Milburn (Australia).

The authors acknowledge the traditional owners of the lands and waters throughout Victoria, and pay our respects to Elders Past and Present. ‘For First Peoples in Victoria there is an unbroken connection between their experiences with colonial child removal practices and their experiences with the...

20/11/2025

November 20 marks Universal Children's Day. As we honour the rights and wellbeing of children around the world, we invite you to take part in a global conversation surrounding infant and early mental health at the 19th WAIMH World Congress in Toronto.

With the theme "Harmony in Diversity - Nurturing the Youngest Minds Around the World," this Congress is a celebration of the diverse voices and experiences that define our field.

Submit your abstract today and share your insights alongside a global community of researchers, practitioners, advocates, and policy makers.

Hurry, abstract submissions close on December 1: https://shorturl.at/0RPla

18/11/2025

The 19th WAIMH World Congress is more than just a conference — it's a global gathering of researchers, practitioners, advocates, and policy makers dedicated to infant and early mental health, infusing the science with lived experience.

Hear from Dr. Chaya Kulkarni, Director of IEMHP, Congress Host and Chair of the Local Organizing Committee, on why you should make plans to attend next October in Toronto.

Submit your abstract by December 1, and help shape the 2026 program: https://shorturl.at/0RPla

17/11/2025

The 19th WAIMH World Congress is more than just a conference, it's a celebration of global collaboration in infant and early mental health.

When we nurture the youngest minds, we unlock endless possibilities. Some will become scientists, artists, athletes, teachers, parents, or community leaders. Each path matters — and every child deserves the best start to reach their full potential.

As leaders in infant and early mental health, we have a responsibility to ensure every infant receives the right start and support to reach their full potential.

Abstract submissions for are now open. Submit your paper by December 1 and share your insights with a global community of academics, practitioners, advocates, and policymakers.

Submit today: https://shorturl.at/0RPla

14/11/2025

Registration for is now open!

We invite you to register and secure your spot at this stimulating and engaging event. Be one of the first 100 registrants to secure the best deal of the Congress through our Early Bird (Launch Saver) rate!

With the theme "Harmony in Diversity: Nurturing the Youngest Minds Around the World," the 19th WAIMH World Congress brings together the world's top voices in infant and early mental health for an enriching four day conversation.

Join us from October 2-6 2026, as we dive into new thinking, inclusive practices, and international collaboration. Live from the global city of Toronto, Canada – your home away from home.

Register today: https://shorturl.at/FHfOt

13/11/2025

Memories from the Edinburgh Congress:
“Babies: Their Contributions – Our Responsibilities”

The Congress theme built on Colwyn Trevarthen’s seminal recognition of how infants actively build relationships from birth, through eye contact, smiles, and rhythmic interaction, reshaping our understanding of their capacities and our shared responsibilities as caregivers, professionals, and policymakers worldwide.

Were you at the Edinburgh congress? What do you remember most?

11/11/2025

Meet James Edward Swain, one of 's Plenary Speakers.

Dr. Swain is a clinician-scientist - the inpatient medical director of child psychiatry and a biological psychiatry researcher. As a clinician, he is interested in preventing and treating acute mental illness among children with special attention to parenting and early childhood. As a researcher, he studies the brain-basis of parent-infant bond formation and child outcome as a function of mental health problems and solutions for issues such as depression, anxiety, the chronic effects of stress and poverty and finally psychotherapeutic and psychopharmacological treatments.

Join Dr. Swain and many other global experts on infant and early mental health at in Toronto, Canada.

Submit your abstract by December 1 and help shape this important conversation: https://shorturl.at/0RPla

07/11/2025

Colleagues in the United States (Evandra Catherine et al.) present a framework for decolonizing professional development in Infant and Early Childhood Mental Health Consultation (IECMHC). The paper outlines five essential elements: shifting beliefs, exploring positionality, reflecting on equity, practicing difficult conversations, and embodying anti-bias practice. The authors emphasize the importance of relationship-focused learning environments and parallel processes that support consultants in disrupting systemic bias and promoting equity for marginalized children and their families.

Introduction Decolonizing infant and early childhood mental health consultation (IECMHC) professional development (PD) requires rethinking how we conceptualize, train, and support consultants in the field. A decolonized approach recognizes that mainstream models of IECMHC PD often fail to fully acco...

06/11/2025

Did you know the World Congress for the World Association for Infant Mental Health (WAIMH) hasn’t been held in North America in 25 years? The last WAIMH World Congress on this continent took place in Montreal, Canada in 2000. That marked the second time the event was held in North America, after Chicago, United States hosted the Congress in 1992.

Be part of history next October as Toronto, Canada plays host to the 19th WAIMH World Congress, welcoming an international community of infant and early mental health researchers, practitioners, and professionals to one of the most diverse and vibrant cities in the world.

The call for papers is now open. Submit your abstract today: https://shorturl.at/0RPla

05/11/2025

WAIMH 2026 Sponsor a Delegate Program: Applications now open & donations welcome!

Help us make truly global. The Sponsor a Delegate Program supports colleagues from lower-resource settings to participate in the WAIMH 2026 World Congress in Toronto, Canada.

🔹 Applications are now open for delegates who have submitted an abstract. Due date for applications: 30 January 2026.

🔹 Want to make a difference? You can donate and help a colleague participate in the Congress. Every contribution counts!

Read more about how to apply or donate:

The World Association for Infant Mental Health (WAIMH) invites you to help colleagues from lower-resource settings participate in the WAIMH 2026 World Congress in Toronto, Canada (2-6 October 2026). Introduction WAIMH has made it its goal to be truly multinational and culturally diverse. The majorit...

04/11/2025

Introducing Tessa Baradon, another one of the State of the Art Lecture speakers at !

Tessa Baradon is the Parent-Infant Project Manager at the Anna Freud Centre. She came from the field of Public Health to child psychoanalysis and psychotherapy. She has worked in the public and private sectors as a child and adolescent therapist and has been responsible for the development, implementation and evaluation of services for parents and infants in the NHS and the Anna Freud Centre. Tessa Baradon writes and lectures on child therapy/psychoanalysis and parent infant psychotherapy. She is a Member of the Association of Child Psychotherapists and the Association of Child Psychoanalysis, Inc. She also has an appointment as Visiting Adjunct Professor, School of Human and Community Development, University of the Witwatersrand, South Africa.

Join Tessa and an international group of researchers, practitioners, advocates, and policy makers dedicated to infant and early mental health next October in Toronto as we gather for the 19th WAIMH World Congress.

Be part of this invigorating gathering by submitting your abstract today. Hurry, the deadline for submissions is December 1: https://shorturl.at/0RPla

31/10/2025

This paper by Emily E. Little (United States) highlights proximal caregiving, such as infant carrying and sustained physical contact, as a developmentally rich and culturally grounded caregiving context. These practices support co-regulation, emotional connection, and caregiver sensitivity, yet remain underrepresented in clinical assessment tools. The paper challenges dominant models of infant mental health shaped by Euro-American norms of face-to-face interaction and vocal expressiveness, and calls for inclusive models that recognize touch-based communication and embodied care as central to healthy development across diverse cultural settings.

Early relationships with caregivers are the foundation for infant mental health. Yet the study of parent-infant interaction has been almost exclusively shaped by Euro-American caregiving norms emphasizing visual face-to-face interaction, verbal responsiveness, and positive emotional display as core....