The Infant Mental Health (IMH) team is a small team working in partnership with the other important people and professionals in infants’ (0 to 3 years) lives to promote a shared understanding of infant mental health, wellbeing and development.
We work to create a common language for talking about infant mental health needs and how these are best met. Much of our work is consultative with others involved in supporting infants and parents. We also offer a small amount of direct work where there are significant concerns regarding infant mental health and development. Some of this direct work is with individual families, and some is with groups of pairs of infants and parents – we partner with Dundee Contemporary Arts (DCA) to offer the Art at the Start group.
We welcome initial discussions with professionals where there are concerns about an infant’s mental health and development. Taking a GIRFEC approach, the infant’s Named Person – Health Visitor or Family Nurse – can refer to the team. We encourage the use of the Lanarkshire Infant Mental Health Observation Indicator Set (LIMHOIS) to identify and describe IMH concerns.
We can be contacted by email at tay.infantmentalhealth@nhs.scot, or by phone on 07971 981882.
Infant Mental Health Team
The Infant Mental Health Team
What is infant mental health?
From birth, infant mental health is a baby’s developing capacity to:
All of this develops in the context of babies’ relationships with the other people in their world, particularly those closest to them. We know that early life experiences affect development and wellbeing later in childhood and into adult life, so it’s important that we support the development of good mental health, right from the start.
- experience, express and regulate their different feelings
- form close relationships with important people in their life
- have a positive sense of self
- explore and learn about the world around them
- adapt to their environment
All of this develops in the context of babies’ relationships with the other people in their world, particularly those closest to them. We know that early life experiences affect development and wellbeing later in childhood and into adult life, so it’s important that we support the development of good mental health, right from the start.
