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The NICU and Beyond: Preterm Birth, Early Regulation, and the Power of Relationship
Preterm birth is a profound early relational and developmental experience that disproportionately impacts families facing systemic inequities. This workshop invites participants to approach prematurity through an infant mental health and infant–parent mental health (IPMH) framework, with particular attention to the emotional experience of both the parent and the pre-term infant, and to the central role of relationship in early regulation and development from the NICU into early childhood.
Participants will be supported in imagining what it may feel like for parents and their infants to navigate early medical trauma, prolonged separation, and the sensory intensity of the NICU, and how these experiences shape infants’ emerging capacities for co-regulation, self-regulation, and attachment. The workshop also explores how parents’ emotional worlds—marked by grief, fear, anxiety, and disrupted expectations—become interwoven with early bonding and caregiving. Through clinical images, reflective questions, and developmental perspectives, participants will consider how these early relational experiences may later emerge as emotional, behavioral, and regulatory challenges in toddlerhood and early childhood settings.
The workshop attends closely to racial and socioeconomic inequities in preterm birth, NICU experiences, and access to family-centered, relationship-based care and early intervention services. Emphasis is placed on trauma- and sensory-informed, relational approaches that foster healing, connection, and resilience for both infants and caregivers, while also inviting clinicians to reflect on their own emotional responses and clinical presence in this work.
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Instructors:
Lisa White LCSW-R - Her career spans 25 years, devoted to the well-being of vulnerable children and their families in New York. As a licensed psychotherapist in private practice, she provides therapeutic services to a diverse clientele with a focus on trauma. Lisa also serves as CEO of L White Consulting, LLC, providing capacity-building services to individuals and agencies using a human centered and inclusive framework to enhance workspaces and support staff. Lisa received her Master's degree in Social Work from Columbia University and a Bachelor's degree in Business Management from Hampton University. She is currently pursuing her Ph.D. in Clinical Social Work at the Institute of Clinical Social Work in Chicago.
Michelly Garcia-Arroyo, LMSW, is a bilingual licensed psychotherapist and program leader with over fifteen years of experience advancing mental health, early childhood development, and family wellness in underserved communities. Michelly currently serves as a contracted psychotherapist with True Pursuit Psychological Services, where she provides individual and family therapy in both English and Spanish, integrating trauma-informed, relationship-based, and culturally responsive approaches to promote healing and resilience. She earned a Master’s in Social Work from Lehman College, a Postgraduate Fellowship in Infant-Parent Mental Health from the University of Massachusetts Boston, and a Certificate in Business Excellence from Columbia University’s Senior Leaders Program. A SIFI-certified educator and skilled program developer, Michelly is deeply committed to fostering equitable, high-quality mental health and early childhood services that strengthen families and communities.
Registration may be paid by credit card or check. Please mail check to:
NYSAIMH PO Box 5056 Saratoga Springs, NY 12866. and note - when registering, select "pay later" option to pay by check.
Healthy Families New York staff have been provided with a coupon code to use at checkout for their group discount
Reminders will be sent to the registrants email with Zoom
details. To track attendance, a secondary registration in Zoom is required.
Certificates will be awarded. No CEUs or Aspire Credits are
available.
Cancellation Policy No refund can be made for cancellation seven or fewer working days before the event or for no-shows. Cancellations more than seven working days before a workshop will result in a refund, less a $15.00 cancellation fee. Requests for refunds must be received in writing.