Online Certificate in Infant & Early Childhood Mental Health

Dr. Harrison serves as a child and adolescent psychiatrist at the Psychiatric Mental Health Program at Kennedy Krieger Institute, with a special interest in infant and preschool psychiatry. She is the Project Director for Kennedy Krieger Institutes Network for Early Childhood Tele-education(KKI-NECT), which provides tele-consultation for pediatric primary care providers in rural and underserved areas. She also serves as an associate professor of psychiatry at The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine.

Brenda Jones Harden was the Alison Richman Professor for Children and Families at the University of Maryland School of Social Work. She directed the Prevention and Early Adversity Research Laboratory, where she and her research team examined the developmental and mental health needs of young children who have experienced early adversity, particularly those who have been maltreated or have experienced other forms of trauma. A particular focus was preventing maladaptive outcomes in these populations through early childhood programs. She conducted numerous evaluations of such programs, including parenting interventions, early care and education, home visiting services, and infant mental health programs. Dr. Jones Harden has consulted with and provided training to numerous organizations regarding effective home visiting, infant and early childhood mental health, reflective supervision, infant/toddler development and intervention, and working with high-risk parents. She began her career as a child welfare social worker, working in foster care, special needs adoption, and prevention services, the latter of which became her long-term practice and research focus. She is a scientist-practitioner who uses research to improve the quality and effectiveness of child and family services and to inform child and family policy. She received a PhD in developmental and clinical psychology from Yale University and a Master’s in Social Work from New York University.

Emma Girard, Psy.D. is a licensed clinical psychologist and Certified Global Trainer in Parent-Child Interaction Therapy (PCIT-I) whose private practice includes working with children, adults and families specializing in treatment of trauma, depression and anxiety.

Dr. Girard also works part-time for Riverside County Department of Mental Health, Preschool 0-5 Programs and disseminates Parent-Child Interaction Therapy (PCIT) to 15 sites within the department, having trained over 75 clinicians. She can be seen driving a 39 foot mobile RV to implement the Mobile PCIT program, delivering services directly at school sites.

Honored by UC Davis CAARE Center for outstanding practice in PCIT, she was on the expert panel at Duke University for the dissemination plan of PCIT across North and South Carolina and is a current member of PCIT International Task Force on Training.

Dr. Girard’s experience includes treatment in locations such as a girls residential treatment facility, county mental health, community based treatment offices, university counseling programs, and a Native American boarding high school.

Dr. Tessa Chesher is a member of the psychiatry faculty at the OSU School of Community Medicine and is board certified in general psychiatry and child and adolescent psychiatry. She completed her general psychiatry training at the University Of Oklahoma School Of Community Medicine, and her child and adolescent psychiatry training at Tulane University School of Medicine. She completed a Harris Fellowship in Infant and Early Childhood Psychiatry at Tulane University School of Medicine. She was on faculty at Tulane in the departments of child and adolescent psychiatry and pediatrics. She is now an associate professor in the department of psychiatry at Oklahoma State University Center for Health. Sciences. Dr. Chesher’s professional interests include infant and early childhood mental health and pediatric consultation-liaison psychiatry.

Dr. Williams completed his Child & Adolescent Psychiatry Fellowship Program at University of Pennsylvania-Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia. He is a former Washington, D.C. public school teacher and received a Masters in Teaching from American University.
He then received an MD from Johns Hopkins School of Medicine and completed his adult psychiatric residency training at the Yale University Psychiatry Residency Program, where he served on the Departmental Diversity & Inclusion Committee and received recognition for patient advocacy. Dr. Williams is a former APA/SAMHSA Minority Fellow where he conducted research on racial bias in physician recruitment. In addition to providing clinical care in the Child and Adolescent Psychiatry Division’s outpatient programs, he will be a part of the Early Childhood Innovation Network and the Center for Wellness In School Environments. Dr. Williams will also dedicate time to research – his interests are focused on examining the ways in which racism shapes medical practice and developing antiracism curriculum for medical trainees.

Dr. Vilma Reyes is an Assistant Clinical Professor at the University of California, San Francisco in the Child Trauma Research Program. Since 2009, she has been providing Child-Parent Psychotherapy (CPP) services, training, clinical supervision, consultation and coordinating community-based mental health outreach services and evaluation. She is a national trainer in CPP and has co-authored articles and chapters on CPP theory and application.

Matthew Biel, MD, MSc is Chief of the Division of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry at MedStar Georgetown University Hospital and Professor of Clinical Psychiatry and Pediatrics at Georgetown University School of Medicine. He co-directs the Early Childhood Innovation Network, a citywide effort to improve developmental outcomes for children and families in Washington, DC. Dr. Biel was selected as an Aspen Ascend Fellow in 2018. His work addresses the impact of adversity and stress upon children and families, with research centering on reducing health disparities, improving access to mental health care for underserved children and families through projects based in primary care and school settings, and developing clinical interventions focusing on trauma and resilience, anxiety, and autism. His clinical efforts focus on children and adolescents with anxiety and stress disorders, trauma-related conditions, autism spectrum disorders, and complex medical illnesses. He has published numerous articles and book chapters and is involved nationally in psychiatric education and advocacy for children’s mental health. He co-chairs the Committee on Health Promotion and Prevention at the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry.
Dr. Biel received his medical degree and a master’s degree in Community Medicine at Mount Sinai School of Medicine. He trained in general psychiatry and child and adolescent psychiatry at New York University School of Medicine.

Has been studying attachment theory for the past 30 years. Dr. Troutman’s training in attachment theory includes training in evidence-based assessments and interventions based on attachment theory at the University of Iowa, the University of Minnesota, the University of Amsterdam, the University of Quebec at Montreal, Tulane University, and Marycliff Institute.
Dr. Troutman’s research on attachment and infant mental health has been published in peer-reviewed developmental and clinical journals and presented at national and international meetings. Her book, Integrating Behaviorism and Attachment Theory in Parent Coaching, was published by Springer in 2015. Beth has practiced Attachment informed PCIT for over 15 years and was responsible for the state wide implementation of IoWA PCIT.