The Independent Consultant as a Mental Health Consultant in Early Childhood Settings
The goal of a mental health consultant who works in early childhood settings is the promotion of mental wellness and encouragement of positive social relations in children.
A 2005 study by Yale University’s Ed Ziglar Center in Child development found that 6.7 children per 1000 are expelled from preschool every year, three times the rate of expulsions in kindergarten through high school. However, preschool teachers who have access to mental health consultants are about half as likely to expel a child compares with teachers who lack such support based on a report that looked at 3,898 preschool classes in 40 states.
Another recent study in 89 classes conducted by the Tulane University’s Institute of Infant and Early Childhood Mental Health link the mental health help offered there to improved behavior and learning and more cheerful classroom climates.
The mental health consultant, in early childhood or preschool settings, helps small children to learn the lifelong social and emotional skills they need. Children have to learn how to get along with people, to respond to them appropriately, and to acquire an awareness of how their actions affect other people and how other people’s actions affect them. To be more specific, they need to learn cooperation, self-control, confidence, independence, curiosity, empathy, and communication. Also preschoolers need to learn how to inhibit impulsive behavior, become thoughtful, interpersonally sensitive, goal-oriented, respectful of other’s space and belongings, and to develop friendships.
In addition, the mental health consultant identifies children with special needs which have often resulted from violence, abuse, prenatal substance abuse, losses due to incarcerations or death, or living in foster homes or with multiple care givers. Such experiences often has significantly affected the lives of children who display severe behavioral and emotional problems such as learning disabilities, speech or language disorders, emotional or behavioral disorders.
The mental health consultant assists with parent support issues as well, including stress related matters, finding resources, acquiring job training, etc. Parent workshops and personal consultations with parents are essential in helping parents to implement some of the learning activities the youngsters are experiencing in the classroom as well as to address concerns parents may have relative to personal parenting issues and needs.
In the course of a work day, besides scheduled meetings with parents, the mental health consultant carries out classroom observations for assessment and evaluation, insure supportive responses in meeting the children’s needs and conduct scheduled staff development workshops focused on strategies for dealing with behavioral and attention problems.
About the Author
Keep up to date with timely personal growth and financial tips and strategies. Visit http://www.yourconsultantsite.com and http://www.youcontrol.blogspot.com You can subscribe to the monthly Financial/Personal Growth newsletter at either site as well as read and download the free articles and e-books. Will Barnes is a therapist, financial, and personal growth consultant based in Illinois. He has consulted with numerous early childhood programs over the past several decades.
|
|
Childhood Disorders: Second Edition (Clinical Psychology: A Modular Course) $22.95 In this revised edition of Childhood Disorders, Philip C. Kendall and Jonathan S. Comer present current information about the full range of psychological disorders that occur in childhood, and discuss the major models that guide the thinking about each disorder. Specific criteria for diagnosis are presented alongside the latest research findings to provide an overview of methods used for treating … |
|
|
NCMHCE Secrets Study Guide: NCMHCE Exam Review for the National Clinical Mental Health Counseling Examination $49.99 ***Updated 2010: Includes Practice Test Questions***NCMHCE Secrets helps you ace the National Clinical Mental Health Counseling Examination, without weeks and months of endless studying. Our comprehensive NCMHCE Secrets study guide is written by our exam experts, who painstakingly researched every topic and concept that you need to know to ace your test. Our original research reveals specific wea… |
|
|
Adult Psychiatric and Mental Health Nurse Practitioner Exam Flashcard Study System: NP Test Practice Questions & Review for the Nurse Practitioner Exam $59.99 Adult Psychiatric and Mental Health Nurse Practitioner Exam Flashcard Study System uses repetitive methods of study to teach you how to break apart and quickly solve difficult test questions on the Nurse Practitioner Exam. Study after study has shown that spaced repetition is the most effective form of learning, and nothing beats flashcards when it comes to making repetitive learning fun and fast…. |
Tags: education, learning, mental health studies courses, reference, research, technology