ABOUT US

OUR PURPOSE

To bring together as a common voice organizations and individuals

who promote caregiver-child relational approaches to both prevent

and heal adversity in young children prenatally to five.

OUR MISSION

CalAIMH’s mission is to bridge and connect a transdisciplinary, relationally-informed community across California that collaborates and advocates on behalf of children and families prenatally to age five.

Core Functions

1. Promoting professional development, including:



Relationally-Informed Practices

Promoting
relationally-
informed
practice



Promoting Childhood Mental Health

Promoting California endorsement in infant and early childhood mental health (to include reflective practice)



Integration Neuro-Biological Science

Integration of neuro-biological science



Collaboration

Transdisciplinary collaboration, infusion and integration of infant mental health core principles

2. Advocate for policies and practices that support relational health (on behalf of families, young children and providers)

BOARD OF DIRECTORS

Barbara Stroud, PhD
President

Marian Williams, PhD
President Elect

Kristie Brandt, CNM, NP, MS, DNP
Past President

Beth Heavilin, MAEd
Board Secretary

Patricia Lakatos, PhD
Treasurer

Penny Knapp MD, FAACAP, FAAP

Board Member at Large

Shulamit Ritblatt, PhD

Board Member at Large

Cheri Reaves, MAEd
Board Member at Large

Adriana Cuestas, PsyD
Board Member at Large

Howard Doi, MS, LMFT
Board Member at Large

Laura Andrade, PhD
Board Member at Large

Kristine Gose, MS
Board Member at Large

Valerie Bellas, PhD
Board Member at Large

FOUNDING MEMBERS

Mary Claire Heffron, PhD
Committee Co-lead

Sherry Casper, PhD,
BCBA-D

Elvia Cortes, MS

Barbara Stroud, PhD
Committee Co-lead

Kristie Brandt, CNM, NP, MS, DNP

Marilee Burgeson, MA, CCC-SLP

Joshua Feder, MD

Cheri Reaves, MAEd

Cassandra Joubert, ScD

Wendy Sun, PsyD

Wendy Lee, PsyD

Rosa Ana Lozada, LCSW

Monica Mathur-Kulluri, OTD, OTR, OTR/L

Shulamit N. Ritblatt, PhD

Rachel Talamantez, EdD, LMFT

Sharon Zone, LCSW

ADDRESS

5716 Folsom Blvd. #279
Sacramento, CA 95819

CONTACT US

Phone: (916) 426-2464
Email: hello@calaimh.org

Web: www.calaimh.org

Barbara Stroud, PhD

Barbara Stroud, PhD is a renowned trainer, consultant, author, co-founding organizer of CalAIMH and an experienced graduate level faculty member. She holds an endorsement as an Infant and Family Mental Health Specialist/Reflective Practice Facilitator Mentor and membership in the Academy of ZERO TO THREE Fellows. Dr. Stroud is the author of ‘How to Measure a Relationship: A practical approach to dyadic interventions’, ‘Intentional Living: finding the inner peace to create successful relationships’ and a contributing author to the text ‘Infant and early childhood mental health: Core concepts and clinical practice’ edited by Kristie Brandt, Bruce Perry, Steve Seligman, & Ed Tronick.

Dr. Stroud is particularly passionate about the unique needs of children of color in the mental health and foster care systems. She has an impressive history of working across infant and early childhood systems to infuse reflective and culturally mindful services from a developmental perspective while holding the healing influence of relationships at the core.

Marian E. Williams, PhD
Associate Professor of Clinical Pediatrics
Keck School of Medicine of USC

Marian Williams is a licensed psychologist specializing in infant-family and early childhood mental health and developmental disabilities in children. Based at Children’s Hospital Los Angeles, she is Program Area Lead for the Early Childhood Mental Health Program and Director of the Stein Tikun Olam Infant-Family Mental Health Initiative. Through these programs, she trains interdisciplinary professionals and trainees in infant-family mental health assessment and intervention, including relationship-based treatment for vulnerable families whose newborns are experiencing hospitalization or stressful medical procedures. Dr. Williams leads a Birth to Five Mental Health Training project providing core training to early childhood mental health professionals throughout Los Angeles County and is a ZERO TO THREE Expert Faculty for DC:0-5. Dr. Williams also leads the Training and Technical Assistance project for First Connections, a five-year project funded by First 5 LA to enhance developmental screening and linkage for young children from underserved communities.

Beth Heavilin, MA Ed., IFEC-ATMHP, RPFI,

Beth works as a Children and Family Mental Health & Inclusion Specialist in a collaborative effort between First 5 Humboldt and the Humboldt County Office of Education. In her work, Beth provides relationship-based services to playgroups, providing training and support to parents/caregivers and staff with parenting, child development, wellness, interventions for developmental services and referrals to community services. Beth is a coordinator of the 0 to 8 Mental Health Collaborative in Humboldt County. The mission of this collaborative is to bring together Humboldt County organizations to develop a transdisciplinary, responsive system capable of supporting the mental wellness of all expectant parents, young children and their families within the context of their community. In addition to working on systems change, the collaborative provides local work force training in Infant Family Early Childhood Mental Health concepts by providing low-cost training to a transdisciplinary network of providers.

Patricia Lakatos, Ph.D.,

Patricia Lakatos, Ph.D., is a Clinical Assistant Professor of Pediatrics at USC University Center for Excellence in Developmental Disabilities at Children’s Hospital Los Angeles. Dr. Lakatos is a bilingual and bicultural licensed psychologist, a member of the ZERO TO THREE Academy of Fellows, and is endorsed by the California Center for Infant-Family and Early Childhood Mental Health as a Mental Health Specialist and Reflective Practice Mentor. Dr. Lakatos provides supervision and training for the American Psychological Association-accredited psychology internship and postdoctoral training programs in early childhood mental at Children’s Hospital Los Angeles (CHLA) and for birth to five providers in Los Angeles County. Her clinical work with birth to five populations currently focuses on prenatal and postnatal infant mental health services at the Fetal-Maternal Center, Neonatal Intensive Care Unit, and the High-Risk Infant Follow-Up Clinics at CHLA where she supports parents in understanding and coping with the impact of trauma and strengthening the parent-infant relationship.

Penny Knapp MD, FAACAP, FAAP

Dr. Knapp is Professor Emeritus at UC Davis and former Medical Director of the CA Department of Mental Health. She has been the project director of the CA First 5-funded Infant Preschool Family Mental Health Initiative, and co-director of the California BEST PCP project as part of ABCD II. She is a member or Fellow of several national organizations including the American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry and American Academy of Pediatrics, serving on the Bright Futures Infancy Panel, the Mental Health Task Force and the Developmental Psychosocial toolkit task force. Her principal current interests are prevention and early intervention for high-risk parents, infants, and toddlers, evidence-based practices for mental health services and screening and intervention in primary care settings for social-emotional, behavioral, and relationship problems. Dr. Knapp is the recipient in 2009 of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry Irving Phillips Award for Prevention. She continues active teaching for child psychiatry and developmental-behavioral pediatrics residents.

Shulamit Ritblatt, Ph.D.

Dr. Shulamit Ritblatt, Professor of the Child & Family Development Department at SDSU, received her PhD in Child and Family Development from Florida State University. She worked as a clinical child psychologist after completion of her master’s. Since 1995, Dr. Ritblatt has been teaching and mentoring students at SDSU, preparing them to work in the field with children and their families, focusing on and emphasizing the importance of the socio-emotional base in early development and learning. In 2009 till December 2015, Dr. Ritblatt served as Chair of the Child & Family Development Department, at San Diego State University. Her work focuses on prevention and early intervention, utilizing relational, reflective, and trauma-informed practices to support the healthy development of young children.

Cheri Reaves, MA. Ed.

Cheri Reaves is the Principal Consultant and Director of POINTS of ACCESS, LLC, which specializes in the capacity building of school districts and agencies for culturally responsive trauma-sensitive developmentally appropriate practice and programs nationally. She is also the coordinator for the Butterfly Touch community service program. Cheri has taught college courses in Parenting, Child Development, Early Childhood Education, Culturally Responsive Pedagogy and Cultural Literacy. She is a former infant/toddler, preschool, transitional/developmental kindergarten teacher in schools and pre-K - 8 homeschool co-ops. Cheri holds a master’s degree in early childhood education, Mills College with post-graduate work in Trauma-Informed Interventions, UC Berkeley Extension, and International, Multicultural Education with an emphasis on Human Rights, University of San Francisco. Cheri is a post-graduate fellow with Napa-Infant Family Mental Health, a credentialed program director and certified NCAST Instructor, University of Washington.

Adriana Cuestas

Adriana Cuestas, PsyD is a bilingual (Spanish/English) licensed clinical psychologist who has extensive experience in providing clinical services to young children presenting with mental health difficulties and trauma-related symptoms. Dr. Cuestas is a graduate fellow of the Infant-Parent Mental Health Fellowship, in Napa, CA, through UC Davis and is currently participating in the Neurosequential Model of Therapeutics certification through the Child Trauma Academy. During her work at Children’s Institute Inc., she provided clinical assessment and treatment using different modalities including Child-Parent Psychotherapy CPP, Parent-Child Interaction Therapy PCIT, Incredible Years IY, and Reflective Parenting Program (RPP). Dr. Cuestas managed the domestic violence therapeutic group and participated in training delivery for psychology interns. Currently, Dr. Cuestas is the Infant and Early Childhood Mental Health Clinical Director at Westside Children’s Center where she provides specialized early childhood clinical guidance through the different programs, fosters transdisciplinary consultation and reflective practice, leads the Infant Mental Health Internship Program and strengthens/develops partnerships with other agencies in the community.

Howard Doi, MS, LMFT

Howard Doi, LMFT, is currently a District Manager with the Early Start Program at the San Andreas Regional Center serving infants, toddlers and their families who are at-risk for developmental delays/special needs. He has been part of this community for 30 years. Howard was an initial collaborator to bring early intervention services to Santa Clara County through the Early Start Program, and he was also one of the founders of Infant Family Early Childhood Mental Health Certification Program which developed services and training to many community professionals. Howard is also part of the Inclusion Collaborative of this County, and the Local Planning Council for Childcare. He is a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist and a Reflective Practice Mentor.

Laura Andrade, PhD

Dr. Laura Andrade has been a Children Services Administrator at the Department of Children and Family Services (DCFS) in Los Angeles County for 16 years. She is currently the departmental lead in ensure best practices for children age birth to five and their families through a Learning Collaborative model that incorporates openness, sharing, and participation of community partners to support the daily case work of the Children’s Social Worker. Dr. Andrade is also an experienced clinician, researcher and trainer in several areas of prevention, intervention and systems improvement. Dr. Andrade is a 2017 Napa Infant Parent Mental Health Fellow and working toward completing her Neurosequential Model of Therapeutics (NMT) Phase 1 Certification. Dr. Andrade ‘s goal is to help ensure that Los Angeles County’s DCFS incorporates trauma informed practice that is developmentally appropriate and culturally relevant when serving all children and families involved in the child protection system.

Kristine Gose, MS

Kristine Gose, MA is an Early Interventionist and Early Childhood Educator supporting families facing the journey of early developmental challenges, such as developmental, behavioral and emotional difficulties, Autism, and other special needs. Ms. Gose is endorsed as an Infant-Family Mental Health Specialist and Reflective Practice Facilitator II. Ms. Gose is a frequent speaker, presenting training in development, behavior, challenges and cultural diversity. Ms. Gose is qualified as an Expert/Facilitator in the DIR®/ Floortime Model by the Interdisciplinary Council on Development and Learning. She is a Fellow of the Profectum Foundation and a Faculty Research Fellow of the Simms Mann Institute for Education and Community Development and holds national certification in Bereavement Facilitation. Most recently she has become a Visions, Inc. “consultant in training”. Ms. Gose is on the faculty at Fresno City College in Child Development where she coordinates the Early Intervention Assistant Certificate program and the direct service Early Intervention Program. Ms. Gose lives in Fresno.

ABOUT US

OUR PURPOSE

OUR MISSION

Core Functions

1. Promoting professional development, including:

Relationally-Informed Practices

Promoting Childhood Mental Health

Integration Neuro-Biological Science

Collaboration

2. Advocate for policies and practices that support relational health (on behalf of families, young children and providers)

Barbara Stroud, PhD President

Marian Williams, PhD President Elect

Kristie Brandt, CNM, NP, MS, DNP Past President

Beth Heavilin, MAEd Board Secretary

Patricia Lakatos, PhD Treasurer

Penny Knapp MD, FAACAP, FAAP

Board Member at Large

Shulamit Ritblatt, PhD

Board Member at Large

Cheri Reaves, MAEd Board Member at Large

Adriana Cuestas, PsyD Board Member at Large

Howard Doi, MS, LMFT Board Member at Large

Laura Andrade, PhD Board Member at Large

Kristine Gose, MS Board Member at Large

Valerie Bellas, PhDBoard Member at Large

Mary Claire Heffron, PhD Committee Co-lead

Sherry Casper, PhD, BCBA-D

Elvia Cortes, MS

Barbara Stroud, PhD Committee Co-lead

Kristie Brandt, CNM, NP, MS, DNP

Marilee Burgeson, MA, CCC-SLP

Joshua Feder, MD

Cheri Reaves, MAEd

Cassandra Joubert, ScD

Wendy Sun, PsyD

Wendy Lee, PsyD

Rosa Ana Lozada, LCSW

Monica Mathur-Kulluri, OTD, OTR, OTR/L

Shulamit N. Ritblatt, PhD

Rachel Talamantez, EdD, LMFT

Sharon Zone, LCSW

Penny Knapp MD, FAACAP, FAAP

Shulamit Ritblatt, Ph.D.

Adriana Cuestas

Howard Doi, MS, LMFT

Laura Andrade, PhD

Kristine Gose, MS

Barbara Stroud, PhD
President

Marian Williams, PhD
President Elect

Kristie Brandt, CNM, NP, MS, DNP
Past President

Beth Heavilin, MAEd
Board Secretary

Patricia Lakatos, PhD
Treasurer

Cheri Reaves, MAEd
Board Member at Large

Adriana Cuestas, PsyD
Board Member at Large

Howard Doi, MS, LMFT
Board Member at Large

Laura Andrade, PhD
Board Member at Large

Kristine Gose, MS
Board Member at Large

Valerie Bellas, PhD
Board Member at Large

Mary Claire Heffron, PhD
Committee Co-lead

Sherry Casper, PhD,
BCBA-D

Barbara Stroud, PhD
Committee Co-lead