Connected Beginnings: Infant - Parent Program

Three Connected Beginning Scholarships were awarded to support participation in a year-long training program at the Infant-Parent Training Institute.

The Infant-Parent Training Institute is for experienced professionals who wish to broaden their knowledge and develop skills specific to clinical work with infants and families. It offers an integration of neuro-developmental and psychodynamic approaches to parent-infant psychotherapy.

The Connected Beginnings Scholars meet regularly with the Executive Director of Connected Beginnings to integrate the training experience into practice. Each scholar will be providing pro-bono consultation applying the content of the supported training to a non-profit child and family-serving organization within one year of receipt of the scholarship. The two CB Scholars are already working to make a difference in their agencies.

Current Scholars

Loraine Araujo is a native of Brazil, where she earned her degrees in the field of Psychology. She will soon be completing her Master’s Program in Mental Health Counseling. For nearly four years, Loraine has been working as a Trilingual Clinician at The Parents Program at Newton Community Service Center (NCSC), serving primarily immigrant families from Latin America, who have experienced trauma through abandonment, abuse and/or neglect. Loraine assists parents in mobilizing internal and external resources to break intergenerational patterns of vulnerability and promote a nurturing and wholesome relationship with their children. Loraine has also been working as a consultant for the infant/toddler day care programs at NCSC, supporting and enhancing relationships between parents, providers and children.

April Haefner Maloney, MS, CEIS, is currently the Assistant Director at Cambridge – Somerville Early Intervention of the Guidance Center, Inc. April oversees services for infants and toddlers and families and supervises early intervention staff and clinical teams. Before entering the early intervention field 13 years ago, April worked with infants and toddlers in child welfare and childcare. April is dedicated to supporting infants’ and toddlers’ development within the context of their relationships. April plans to integrate knowledge and skills gained from the Infant Parent Training Institute and Connected Beginnings into her clinical and leadership roles in early intervention.

Shelah R.E. Corey, MS, MSW, LCSW, is a social worker for Thom Springfield Infant Toddler Services, an Early Intervention program serving a wide variety of children and families. Ms. Corey has a background in child development, and brings to her work with families a focus on the ways in which all areas of development impact one another. As a clinical social worker, she is particularly attentive to the social-emotional well-being of infants and young children. In addition to working with children and families in the EI program, Ms. Corey works with her agency’s Early Intervention Partnership Program, serving women experiencing high-risk pregnancies. In response to how she envisions incorporating the infant mental health training, Ms. Corey notes, “I strongly believe that early development occurs within a relational context. It is impossible to adequately support development without also supporting the relationships between a child and his or her caregivers. Through the Infant-Parent Training Institute and Connected Beginnings, I hope to explore ways to further support and enhance those crucial relationships, thereby improving functioning in all areas of development.”