Welcome to this August 2023 edition of WAIMH Perspectives in Infant Mental Health. This issue begins with a special focus on reports from the recent 18th WAIMH Congress, held in Dublin, Ireland, where WAIMH was hosted by the Irish Association for Infant Mental Health. Reports from Campbell Paul (WAIMH President) and Kaija Puura (WAIMH Executive Director) are then followed by a WAIMH Congress 2023 Report: President’s Symposium with Campbell Paul, Cath Chamberlain, and Astrid Berg by Maree Foley and a WAIMH Congress Presidential Symposium Discussion by Astrid Berg. What follows, are two brief congress reflections from two of our editors, Patricia O’Rourke (Associate Editor) and Salisha Maharaj (Perspectives Assistant Editor).
The focus of the issue then turns to a window into infant mental health in Zimbabwe. This paper is the result of an interview by Salisha Maharaj (Perspectives Assistant Editor) with colleagues in South Africa, Junior (June) Manala and Rachel Makoni, who are actively engaged in promoting and developing, and bringing forth the current expertise in infant mental in Zimbabwe.
Next, the issue draws attention to a national strategy on child and adolescent mental health from the State of Palestine: The State of Palestine Child and Adolescent Mental Health National Strategy 2023-2028. This strategy has been shared with us by Nadia Dabbagh (Royal College of Psychiatrists, UK). Salisha Maharaj provides a comprehensive introduction and overview of the report.
Minna Sorsa (WAIMH Senior Administrator and Production Editor) provides a report on a recent WAIMH collaboration to establish a World Infant, Child and Adolescent Mental Health Day (WICAMHD) highlighting an inaugural webinar that was held on 28 April 2023: Stand against infant, child and adolescent trauma.
The issue then features the Ann Morgan Writing Prize, 2022; A prize presented by the Australian Association of Infant Mental Health (AAIMH). The 2022 recipient was Carolyn Leach-Paholski. Her winning poem is republished here with the permission of AAIMH and Carolyn.
Next, the WAIMH office staff, led by Minna Sorsa with Neea-Leena Aalto continue to do an amazing job in the office. They provide an update on the WAIMH Office news. This is followed by a reminder about the recently published WAIMH e-book. Further details can be found at this link: WAIMH eBooks Topical Resource Guide, Volume 1 – World Association for Infant Mental Health
We also draw your attention to the WAIMH Perspectives vacancy intern editor role. The eligibility criteria for this is role includes persons who are: A current WAIMH member, or a WAIMH Affiliate member, and/or, an actively engaged IMH professional, who is also currently engaged in an IMH training programme, and/or, has been a recipient colleague of the WAIMH Sponsor a Delegate program. The full advertisement and contact details are provided.
The issue closes with some Perspectives in Infant Mental Health flyer that includes author submission guidelines.
As a reminder, Perspectives papers can be accessed online, with past issues dating back to 1993 currently available by following this link: https://perspectives.waimh.org/perspectives-archive/. Also, past articles are available online in text format, which in turn can be shared: https://perspectives.waimh.org/.
Finally as editors, we thank each person for their interesting and thoughtful contributions. We welcome submissions from the field that challenge the way we think about infants, families, culture, and community, and offer fresh perspectives on policy, research, and practice. As always, we invite comments in response to what is published in WAIMH Perspectives in Infant Mental Health.
Editors
- Maree Foley (Switzerland), Editor-in-Chief
- Salisha Maharaj (South Africa), Assistant Editor
- Neea Aalto (Finland), Production Editor
- Minna Sorsa (Finland), Production editor
Associate Editors
- Jody Todd Manly (USA)
- Azhar Abu Ali (Dubai)
- Patricia O’Rourke (Australia)
- Jane Barlow (UK)
- Joy Osofsky (USA)
Perspectives in Infant Mental Health Vol. 31 No. 2 | Summer 2023
Authors
Maree Foley (Switzerland), Editor-in-Chief
Jane Barlow (UK), Associate Editor
Salisha Maharaj (South Africa), Assistant Editor
