October 2025 Newsletter
Updates From Us
We're thrilled to share some exciting updates on all the great things happening at Oregon Infant Mental Health Association (ORIMHA) this month.
Save the Dates!
ORIMHA is excited to partner with Zero to Three to offer the Infant and Early Childhood Mental Health (IECMH) Training Series. Only 50 seats available! $200 for the series! Registrants will have access to recorded sessions for 30 days post-event.
Registration information coming soon!
Please email andrea@or-imha.org with questions.
Advanced Clinical Training Program at the Barnard Center.
The Advanced Clinical Training (ACT) Program in Infant and Early Childhood Mental Health has added more open house dates for the program!
October 2, 2025 12pm – 1pm – Registration link
October 16, 2025 4pm – 5pm – Registration link
October 21, 2025 9am – 10am – Registration link
October 29, 2025 12pm – 1pm – Registration link
**all times in PST
The ACT Program in Infant and Early Childhood Mental Health is a 15-month, community learning structured, professional development program designed for professionals who support families caring for children during the prenatal period to age 5 years. The program strives to expand the availability of and access to infant and early childhood mental health (early relational health) services throughout Washington and neighboring states.
ACT was developed utilizing a framework and foundational principles of diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging. Our curriculum attends to the lived experiences of children (prenatal to 5 years) and their caregivers as whole persons living in social, cultural, economic, and political systems built on settler colonization, genocide, enslavement, and their legacy of interlocking and interacting systems of oppression including but not limited to racism, sexism, classism, ableism, homophobia, transphobia, and xenophobia.
The program curriculum, implementation, and administration strive to explicitly and equitably address systemic barriers and gaps in professional development in content and approach. By centering the lived experiences of families and professionals from Black, Indigenous, communities of culture, and communities historically and currently targeted for oppression, we make possible the experience of inclusion and belonging to deepen the program’s community relationships and facilitate respect, compassion, relational safety, and healing. When the diversity of professionals is representative of the communities we serve, children and families from those communities are better served and the profession benefits as a whole. We invite you to learn more about the ACT Program’s Core Values.
Every Child Belongs.
ORIMHA plays the primary role in preparing IECMH consultants to deliver services in the Every Child Belongs initiative. The cornerstone for serving as an IECMH consultant is a strong understanding of fundamental infant and early childhood mental health competencies. Therefore, ORIMHA is facilitating a 20-part series for IECMH consultants titled Foundation for Culturally Sensitive, Relationship-Focused Practice Promoting Infant & Early Childhood Mental Health. Licensed from the Michigan Association for Infant Mental Health, this series covers all the knowledge and skill areas that are required for Endorsement as a Family Specialist. Importantly, it is a professional development experience that will ground consultants in a solid understanding of attachment, trauma, grief, & loss; relationship-based therapeutic practice; cultural humility; observation & listening; and other skills that lead to impactful consultation. And the best news? ORIMHA will soon be offering this training series more broadly, so stay tuned to learn how you can benefit from this immersive training experience.
Endorsement.
Do you have questions about Endorsement? ORIMHA’s endorsement coordinator offers one-on-one support. Click here to find a date and time.
Job Openings.
MountainStar is looking to hire a new part time (20-hour) position to work throughout the Warm Springs Reservation. Click here to find out more about the Outreach Coordinator position. Contact hr@mtstar.org with questions or interest.
MountainStar Family Relief Nursery is recruiting an Early Childcare Specialist to join their team in Bend, Oregon. Click here for more information about the Early Childcare Specialist position. Contact hr@mtstar.org with questions or interest.
Scholarship Opportunities.
Did you know you may be eligible for scholarships to help pay for professional development opportunities? Check out the Portland State University scholarship page for more information.
Congratulations are in order!
Congratulations to our new endorsee:
Tobiah Brown
Heather Leap
Megan Wurst
Be a voice for babies, families, and the community.
Make a donation today.
Are you in need of reflective supervision?
ORIMHA has a Reflective Supervision Registry where you can find a list of Infant Mental Health Mentors and Infant Mental Health Specialists. Click below to access the registry. AND ORIMHA is offering low-cost group sessions. If you are interested, please email andrea@or-imha.org for more information.
Training and Events:
Contact Us:
Membership and Training Support: andrea@or-imha.org
Endorsement Support: endorsement@or-imha.org