(In Affiliation with The Institute for Arts in Therapy and Education)

Aim of The Centre

The overall aim of The Centre is to promote positive social change through disseminating the latest research in child, parent and family mental health and by offering first-class continuing professional development. In so doing, we endeavour to broaden the impact of knowledge about the emotional wellbeing and mental health of children and families. This knowledge is derived from the empirical research and clinical expertise of the broadest possible spectrum of researchers, clinicians and organisations in the field of child and family mental health worldwide. It is also strongly informed by the direct experiences of children and parents themselves..

Functions of The Centre

• To support all those dedicated to enhancing the wellbeing of children, parents and families with both cutting edge research and knowledge of effective interventions.
• To make up for deficits in professional trainings, e.g. teacher, parenting and social work trainings, where constraints often mean that key theory and practice cannot be addressed in sufficient depth.
• To empower professionals to work more effectively and confidently with children, young people, parents and families.
• To provide first class training for work with troubled children, young people, parents and families.

Dissemination of Research

• To fund an effective dissemination of psychologically and
  neurobiologically based research. Organisational Isolation can be costly: ‘wasting time slowly re-discovering what is already known’. (Baron Peter Slade, 2000)
• By fully drawing on the latest psychological and neuroscientific research studies worldwide, to make available to parents, teachers, child-care professionals, providers and custodians of services, politicians and the lay-public at large, a comprehensive up-to-date knowledge base in child and family mental health and wellbeing.

Networking and Communication

To provide a forum for discussion and debate, and to facilitate a dialogue between researchers and organisations in the field of child and family mental health. This is also with the hope that creative linking will stimulate the formulation and elaboration of new hypotheses that could generate vital research programmes.

Examples of Lectures

• How Parent-Infant Interactions Enhance or Inhibit the Growth of the Developing Brain
• Effects of Maternal Depression on the Infant: Implications for Health Care Practice
• The Importance of Playing in Child Mental Health
• Nowhere to Turn: ChildLine – 15 Years of Listening to Children
• The Cries Unheard of Children Who Kill & Children of Parents Who Kill
• How Shouting & Smacking Affects Parent-Child Relationships
• The Rage of the Unwanted

Recent presenters have included:

Dr Bessel van der Kolk, Dr Dan Hughes, Dr Tami Kramer, Professor Jaak Panksepp, Dr Terry Levy, Dr Ann Cattanach, Dr Keith Sullivan, Adah Sachs, Brett Kahr, Sue Jenner, Dr Dorothy Judd, Jean Illsley Clarke, Dr Leonore Terr, Dr Anne Alvarez, Professor Declan Murphy, Dr Allan Schore.

For more details, please contact

The Centre for Child Mental Health
2-18 Britannia Row, London N1 8PA

Telephone: 020 7354 2913. 
Fax: 020 7704 0171

Website: www.childmentalhealthcentre.org 
E-mail: info@childmentalhealthcentre.org