Event Details
- Date: October 2, 2026
- Time: 10:00 AM to 12:30 PM
- Venue: Provincial Ballroom, Sheraton Centre Toronto Hotel
Facilitators
- Dr Juané Voges, WAIMH Affiliate Council Chair
- Dr Azhar Abu Ali, WAIMH Affiliate Council Representative
Open to all registered attendees of the WAIMH 2026 World Congress at no additional cost.
About the Affiliate Pre-Congress Institute
The WAIMH Affiliate Pre-Congress Institute 2026, titled “WAIMH Affiliate Journeys from Conception to Adulthood”, aims to narrate the journey of invited WAIMH Affiliates from around the world as they established or are establishing an affiliate.
Each affiliate will be invited to share their vision/mission, the process and current stage of their affiliate, in addition to the challenges faced, strides made, and lessons learned along their developmental path up to the present.
We envision this to be an inspiring forum to share knowledge, exchange ideas, and build global connections and bridges among affiliates in service of the well-being of babies and their caregivers.
Presentation 1. From Vision to Movement: Establishing the WAIMH Bangladesh Affiliate
Speaker: Khalid Afif Mehran, BRAC Institute of Educational Development (BRAC IED), BRAC University, Bangladesh
Khalid Afif Mehran is a psychologist and currently serves as a Deputy MHPSS Officer at BRAC Institute of Educational Development (BRAC IED), BRAC University, Bangladesh. His work focuses on mental health, psychosocial support, community-based MHPSS interventions, and well-being, with a particular interest in developing accessible, sustainable, and contextually responsive approaches to mental health support. A significant part of his work focuses on promoting the mental health and psychosocial well-being of children and adolescents through supportive environments, caregiver and educator engagement, and community-based approaches.
Abstract
The establishment of the WAIMH Bangladesh Affiliate marks a significant milestone in advancing infant and early childhood mental health within a rapidly evolving socio-ecological context shaped by poverty, climate vulnerability, and humanitarian challenges. Hosted by the BRAC Institute of Educational Development (BRAC IED), BRAC University, the affiliate emerged through a two-year process of dialogue, institutional alignment, and network building among national and international stakeholders committed to strengthening infant mental health in Bangladesh. It is created to be locally grounded with a vision to connect to global leaders in the field of infant and child mental health.
Anchored in the understanding that nurturing relationships and responsive caregiving are foundational to healthy development, the affiliate promotes integrated approaches that connect infant mental health with early childhood development (ECD), play-based learning, and socio-emotional learning. The work spans the developmental continuum from infancy through early childhood to adolescence and into young adulthood, with particular focus on the wellbeing of young mothers, caregivers, and communities.
The presentation narrates the journey of the WAIMH Bangladesh Affiliate formation from conception to early establishment—highlighting the vision, process, challenges, and lessons learned.
Presentation 2. Reflections from Poland: The Power of Attachment
Speakers: Lidia Popek & Katarzyna Kwaśny-Czehak
MD Lidia Popek, PhD is a specialist in child and adolescent psychiatry, pediatrician, certified psychotherapist and supervisor of the Scientific Section of Psychotherapy and the Scientific Section of Family Therapy of the Polish Psychiatric Association, and a psychotherapist in Parent-Infant Psychoanalytic Psychotherapy. She is the president and founder of the Polish Association for Infant Mental Health, member of the World Association for Infant Mental Health. She is also the initiator of the “Strength of Attachment” Project of Parent-Infant Psychotherapy at the Mazovian Center for Neuropsychiatry and the first center in Poland dealing with parent-infant psychotherapy (PPIP) and providing psychotherapeutic and psychiatric care for families with young children. She has organized three scientific conferences on psychotherapy for infants and young children. She is a provincial consultant in the field of child and adolescent psychiatry in Mazovia. She actively works to promote knowledge about infant and young children’s mental health and mental disorders in children and adolescents.
Katarzyna Kwaśny-Czehak is a psychologist and psychotherapist working in the Parent–Infant Psychotherapy (PIP) approach, a Jungian analytical psychotherapist (PM IAAP), and a supervisor at the IAAP. She is a Board member of the Polish Society for Jungian Psychoanalysis and a member of the Polish Association for Infant Mental Health. She has clinical experience in psychotherapy with adults, children, and families, including parents with infants. She is the head of the “Power of Attachment” Center at MCN in Józefów. She has worked in psychiatric wards, a Psychological and Educational Counseling Center, an early intervention center, and a support center for victims of crime. She conducts training in analytical psychology, early childhood psychology, and the prevention of domestic violence. Her interests include dream analysis in both individual and collective contexts.
Abstract
For five years, we have been implementing the innovative Polish project “The Power of Attachment,” focused on the mental health of infants and young children. Since 2020, the project has included training in psychoanalytic parent–infant psychotherapy and infant and early childhood mental health. The “Power of Attachment Center” has also been established, serving children up to the age of five, including infants, and their parents.
As part of the project, three scientific conferences were held in consecutive years (2023, 2024, 2025). Plenary lectures were delivered by Tessa Baradon, Brian Feldman, and leading representatives of Polish academia, and clinical cases were also presented. In June 2026, the 4th “Power of Attachment” Conference, titled “In the Arms of the Father,” took place, with a plenary lecture by Kai von Klitzing.
Within the project, the book edited by Tessa Baradon, The Practice of Psychoanalytic Parent–Infant Psychotherapy, has been translated, and another book by the same author, Working With Fathers in Psychoanalytic Parent–Infant Psychotherapy, is currently in translation. Publishing these works in Polish contributes to the dissemination and development of knowledge on infant and early childhood mental health.
In autumn 2023, the Polish Association for Infant Mental Health (PSZPN) was established — the first and, so far, the only association of this kind in Poland. In spring 2025, PSZPN became affiliated with WAIMH. The association provides regular online training for professionals and all those interested in this still developing field in Poland, and co-organizes the conferences mentioned above. Mental health professionals from across Poland are joining PSZPN, creating a growing professional community that may contribute in the future to shaping health policy for infants and young children.
Members of PSZPN actively participate in national conferences for doctors, nurses, midwives, and other professionals working with young children, and also presented a poster at the WAIMH Congress in Tampere.
Presentation 3. Nurturing a Field: The Birth and Development of the Irish Association for Infant Mental Health
Speaker: Ciara McCarthy, Senior Clinical Psychologist & Infant Mental Health Specialist; President, Irish Association for Infant Mental Health (I-AIMH)
Dr Ciara McCarthy is a senior clinical psychologist and Infant Mental Health Specialist who has been working with babies, young children, adolescents, and their families in the Health Service Executive since 2006. Ciara is committed to holding the relationship centre stage throughout all her clinical work. She has a special interest in complex, intergenerational trauma and the pivotal role of the Infant Mental Health Framework in relation to repairing the past and promoting optimal social and emotional development of infants and young children. Ciara has been a member of the Executive Committee for the Irish Association for Infant Mental Health since 2018 and is the current president.
Abstract
Just over two decades ago, two psychologists began working within a new service in the South of Ireland. As a greenfield site, the service offered space to observe, to listen, and to notice what was missing from current service models. A significant gap became apparent: the social and emotional needs of infants and the relational contexts in which they develop were largely invisible.
This critical observation marked the conception of a vision for Infant Mental Health in Ireland that would grow steadily over the following years and ultimately lead to the establishment of the interdisciplinary Irish Association for Infant Mental Health (I-AIMH) in 2009. Almost twenty years after the initial observations, I-AIMH proudly hosted the World Association for Infant Mental Health Congress.
Since its earliest days the mission of I-AIMH has been to bring a strategic focus to the developmental stages of pregnancy, infancy, and early childhood, with a central emphasis on how early relationships matter for all infants, young children, and their families. Key developmental milestones include the 2018 launch of adapted Michigan Association for Infant Mental Health Competency Guidelines for the Irish context, and the May 2025 launch of the Endorsement® credential, supporting practitioners to deliver culturally sensitive, reflective care across promotion, prevention, early intervention, and treatment.
This presentation reflects on the birth, growth, and relational context of the development of I-AIMH.
Presentation 4. Generativity versus Stagnation: The Challenges for an Adult AIMH
Speaker: Nicole Milburn, BSc, Grad Dip (Couns) Psych, DPsych, GAICD, Chair of the Board, Australian Association for Infant Mental Health (AAIMH)
Nicole Milburn is a Clinical Psychologist and infant mental health clinician who has worked in public and private settings for more than 25 years. She has been the Chair of the Board of the Australian Association for Infant Mental Health for the past five years. In her work she provides therapeutic services to infants, children, families, and individual adults, as well as training in assessment of the infant/child–parent relationship using methods such as the Working Model of the Child Interview and the Crowell Procedure. She is deeply committed to representing the voice of the infant in complex court and child protection matters to improve systemic responses.
Abstract
The Australian Association for Infant Mental Health (AAIMH) has been an affiliate of WAIMH since 1992 and has historical roots at least four years prior. With a history of more than 34 years, AAIMH can be considered well and truly in adulthood. Drawing on Erikson’s staged theory of lifespan development, in which the key developmental task of adulthood is generativity versus stagnation (1950), this presentation applies the framework to the organisation to trace AAIMH’s developmental pathway.
Efforts to grow and establish a foundation of basic trust and a coherent identity will be illustrated through AAIMH’s vision, mission, and services to members. The challenges of a mature infant mental health organisation will be explored, and strategies AAIMH has developed to address these will be highlighted. The presentation focuses in depth on generativity versus stagnation—particularly the challenges of relevance, growth, and succession within the specific context of a vast landmass with highly uneven population distribution, a shameful history of devastating harm to First Nations infants, families and culture, and the diversity of one of the most multicultural countries on Earth.
