Integrating infant mental health services into early education programs leads to better child outcomes and stronger parent-child relationships--the big question is how to do it appropriately and effectively. Clear answers are in this accessible textbook, created to prepare early childhood professionals and programs to weave best practices in mental health into their everyday work. Ideal for preservice university courses, in-service professional development, and program administrators, this introductory text combines the authoritative guidance of more than a dozen respected mental health and early childhood experts. Professionals will get a "primer on infant mental health", strengthening their knowledge of key issues such as screening and assessment, attachment, emotional dysregulation and aggression, risk and resilience, maternal depression, and children's exposure to trauma. With this highly readable introduction to key mental health principles, the next generation of early childhood professionals will fully understand the latest research and best practice--so they can support optimal caregiver-child relationships, enhance professional collaboration, and strengthen child development. This book is divided into two parts. Part I, Understanding Infant Mental Health: Development and Relationships by Susan Janko Summers, contains the following: (1) Understanding Infant Mental Health (Deborah Roderick & Rachel Chazan-Cohen); (2) The Challenging Child: Emotional Dysregulation and Aggression (Neena M. Malik); (3) Maternal Depression (Linda S. Beeber & Rachel Chazan-Cohen); (4) Finding Family Strengths in the Midst of Adversity: Using Risk and Resilience Models to Promote Mental Health (Colleen I. Monahan, Linda S. Beeber, & Brenda Jones Harden); (5) Exposure to Direct and Indirect Trauma (Meryl Yoches, Susan Janko Summers, Linda S. Beeber, Brenda Jones Harden, & Neena M. Malik); (6) Assessing Young Children's Social and Emotional Development (Jane Squires); and (7) Assessing Primary Caregiver Relationships (Neil W. Boris & Timothy F. Page). Part II, Supporting Infant Mental Health: Intervention Strategies and Organizational Supports by Susan Janko Summers, contains the following: (8) Promoting Infant Mental Health in Early Childhood Programs: Intervening with Parent-Child Dyads (Brenda Jones Harden & Melissa Duchene); (9) Intervening with Parents (Linda S. Beeber & Regina Canuso); (10) Infant Mental Health Consultation in Early Childhood Classrooms (Sherryl Scott Heller, Allison B. Boothe, Angela Walter Keyes, & Neena M. Malik); (11) Reflective Supervision (Sherryl Scott Heller); (12) Meeting the Mental Health Needs of Staff (Nicole Denmark & Brenda Jones Harden); (13) Organizational Readiness (Jamell White & Brenda Jones Harden); and (14) Evaluating Infant Mental Health Programs (Susan Janko Summer). An index is included. [Foreword by Hiram E. Fitzgerald.]