This week is Infant Mental Health Awareness Week (8 – 14 June), which focuses on how attunement – or the ability to tune in and connect with others on an emotional level – helps babies to feel safe and loved.
The Royal Foundation Centre for Early Childhood says emotional attunement involves noticing, understanding and responding to another person’s emotional state in a sensitive and appropriate way.
This is one of the skills the Together with Baby team helps new parents and carers to develop, so they can strengthen their bond and relationship with their baby.
The specialist team at Essex Partnership University NHS Foundation Trust works with parents for the first 1001 days of their child’s life, from conception to two years old.
Assistant Psychologist Ella Beatty said: “At Together with Baby, we are proud to support Infant Mental Health Awareness Week by highlighting the importance of attunement in parent-infant relationships.
“We aim to be attuned not only to the families we support, but also to the professionals working alongside them.”
They offer a range of therapeutic approaches to support parents in developing a deeper understanding of their baby’s emotional responses and communication.
Through these therapies, parents are supported to build attuned relationships with their infants, including recognising and responding to non-verbal communication such as eye contact, facial expressions, posture, rhythm, and movement.
By strengthening parents’ ability to notice and respond to these cues, the service promotes connection, understanding, and the development of secure early relationships.
The Circle of Security programme is one of the interventions that Together with Baby use to support parents to recognise and respond to their baby’s emotional needs, helping them understand cues such as when their baby is seeking comfort or ready to explore, which promotes greater attunement.
Parents and carers are also helped to understand any trauma or difficult relationships they have experienced which is affecting how they connect with their child.
Together with Baby is available to families living in north east Essex, mid Essex, south Essex and west Essex.
Parents can contact the team directly to refer themselves for support, or a health professional such as their GP, mental health worker, health visitor or midwife, can make a referral on their behalf.
More information can be found on the Together with Baby webpage.
Infant Mental Health Awareness Week is organised by The Parent Infant Foundation. If you are interested in learning more about babies’ social and emotional development, you can find links to resources and local services on their website.