| Description |
Early Interventionists and Infant/Family Specialists acquire many skills to be effective in their roles. New perspectives can aid these providers to engage Fathers in their work with infants. Dads “Dyad” Differently (DDD) will cover concepts, e.g. ghosts/angels in the nursery, reflective functioning, parallel process, paternal postnatal mood disorders, provider assumptions, and the culture of fatherhood. DDD will introduce useful strategies, e.g. metaphors, Newborn Behavioral Observation (NBO), Skin to Skin, Fussy Baby FAN Model, Father’s emotional experiences, Father roles, among others. Participants will examine their own assumptions to identify challenges to promoting father-infant interactions. Discussions will include “ghosts/angels in the nursery;” reflective functioning; increasing father competence; mothers & gatekeeping; and father feelings, including paternal postnatal mood disorders. The culture of fatherhood as a framework for discussion can help to understand a father’s viewpoint, that is, “cultural relativism.” The use of metaphors will highlight a father’s learning style, which can assist to teach important concepts in ways that are more easily understood and applicable to fathers. This workshop includes 40% discussion, 30% experiential and 30% didactic employing individual exercises, small group activities and large group discussions.
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