In this presentation contemporary developmental science research will be integrated with clinical stories to reveal the power of Listening In: listening from a not-knowing stance with a suspension of expectations and a willingness to be surprised. The meeting of caregiver and newborn represents the prototype of two people, each with their own unique self, getting to know each other. Offering a practical model for a wide variety of professional settings, Listening In applies in a parallel process to parent-infant, clinician-parent, and teacher-student relationships. We will address core early relational health principles that inform the model of Listening In, including the repair theory of human development, parental reflective functioning, and the healing power of safety.

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In the second half of 2025, federal actions have presented significant headwinds to New York’s efforts to reduce child poverty. New York can —and must — continue to enact policy and budget decisions that prioritize and protect children and families. In this webinar and interactive discussion, we will outline opportunities for state action that prioritize and protect children and families in the face of federal threats.

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An interactive session to explore what research reveals about screen time and early child development, including its effects on language, socio-emotional growth, and cognition. We will review expert guidelines and explore the difference between "no screen" rules and meaningful media engagement. Through hands-on activities and group discussions, caregivers and educators will practice evaluating real-world media examples and identifying quality content. Leave with evidence-based insights and everyday strategies to support children's healthy learning and relationships in a digital world.  

Each year, the New York Zero to Three Network, in memory of a founding Board Member, Hedi Levenback, honors an innovator in the field of infancy and early childhood. This year, we are honoring Dr. Sima Gerber.

Becoming a parent can transform how we experience our work—as well as ourselves. This session explores the unique challenges and benefits of holding both identities, including shifts in perspective, countertransference, self-disclosure, and vulnerability to vicarious trauma. Attendees will gain insight, reflective tools, and strategies to navigate the overlap between personal and professional roles.

Join us in person or on-line to hear our keynote speakers, Dr. Pat Levitt and Dr. Brenda Jones Harden, delve into the following questions:

What are adverse child experiences?

How do these experiences create toxic stress for children and affect their short-term and long-term outcomes?

What can we do to address these risks for children and their families?

What are the elements of a system of care that can buffer children from early life adversity and toxic stress? 

A collaboration with NYZTT & NYSAIMH

Dr. Tovah P. Klein will discuss children's developmental needs generally and following traumatic events to help parents understand what every child requires to face challenges and thrive. She will focus on parent-child relationships and the five pillars discussed in her national bestseller book,  Raising Resilience: What Our Children Need to Thrive in Times of Uncertainty (HarperCollins, 2024). She will discuss the impact of parents’ behavior on their relationship with their children, strategies to stay grounded during stressful times; and how to build supportive parent-child relationships to help children to become confident, caring, and thriving people.

This presentation will focus on using an attachment-oriented lens to explore how caregivers are key for co-regulation and security. Prevention strategies will be explored that involve providing routine and comfort while helping to scaffold approach behaviors and model effective coping that can support security and sense of capability.

Participants will gain an understanding of how caregiving practices and play can be used to prevent fear and anxiety from inhibiting growth and create opportunities for developing capability and resilience.

In this presentation, Ms. Lerner will use cases from her practice to illustrate her approach to collaborating with parents to solve their most vexing childrearing challenges, a process that includes: 

Doing the detective work to figure out the root cause of the challenging behavior, which often includes parents sharing audio and video of difficult moments with their children.

Helping parents make some key mindshifts that enable them to be more responsive, not reactive.

Coming up with strategies that put parents back in charge and provide their children the love and connection they need while also setting clear limits and boundaries with love.  

This presentation will offer guidance to practitioners on providing clinical and therapeutic support to young children who are in foster care. It will review the life experiences of children who enter foster care as infants or toddlers, often including attachment disorders or attachment disruptions, sometimes augmented by other losses and traumatic experiences. It will also review common characteristics of parents of young children who are involved in the child welfare system.

As knowledge and understanding around the Adverse Childhood Experience Study grows, so does the need for tangible action steps to build resilience. To do this, we all must recognize that we have the opportunity and shared responsibility to build resilience of children and families. This 90-minute training begins with a brief review of the ACE Study, discusses the importance of intentional resilience strengthening and engages participants in perspective shift work to equip them with everyday action steps that are grounded in the Protective Factors Framework.

Reconnect and Renew your support of professionals who work on behalf of infants, toddlers, and their families.

The ripple effect of immigration policy enforcement on young children in immigrant families is an urgent topic for infant and early childhood providers (pediatricians, mental health clinicians, early childhood educators, home visitors, and other frontline workers).

Presented by: Ross W. Greene, Ph.D., originator of the innovative, evidence-based approach called Collaborative & Proactive Solutions (CPS)

Each year, the New York Zero to Three Network, in memory of a founding Board Member, Hedi Levenback, honors an innovator in the field of infancy and early childhood. In 2024 we honored Dr. Serena Wieder.

Cosponsorship webinar with New York State Parenting Education Partnership (NYSPEP) and the New York Zero-to-Three Network (NYZTT).

The workshop will review the guiding principles and lessons learned from implementing HealthySteps, a multidisciplinary pediatric-child development program offered to families with new babies during early pediatric well-child visits.

Presenters: Ken Kessel, LCSW and Deric Boston, MSW, LCSW

In this workshop, Deric Boston and Ken Kessel discuss the scope, contours and spectrum of these complications, share their sensibilities, with case examples, on how they approach them, and explore the larger contexts in which these issues arise.

Presenter: Allison Hollihan, LMHC

The Osborne Association’s NY Initiative for Children of Incarcerated Parents shared how best to support children whose parents are involved with the criminal legal system from arrest through reentry.

Panel discussion moderated by Cynthia Piltch, PhD, MPH, CPS, with participation from Jacquie Martinez, FPS, CPS, COAPS, Ziona Rivera and Sandi Whitney-Sarles, MS, CPS,COAPS. A collaboration between the NYZTT, New York State Parenting Education Partnership, and the Center of Excellence for Psychosocial and Systemic Research.

Reflecting in and Across Differences: Developing Reflective Capacities in Ourselves and Our Clients

Keynote speakers: Arietta Slade, Ph.D. and Christiana Awosan, Ph.D.

Night of laughter and support for NYZTT. Hosted by Kendra Cunningham (DryBar Comedy), guest comics include Alyce Chan (MomComedy), Ivy Eisenberg (The Moth), and Maggie Champagne.

The Therapeutic Relationship in Early Intervention and Early Childhood Work

Speakers: Bonnie Keilty, EdD and Ashley Cattaneo, MSEd

Panelists: Masayo Douglas, MSEd/MSW candidate, Susan Rabinowicz, PhD., and Richard Kahn, PhD, MS, RD.

Moderator: Margorie Brickley, MSEd

Presented by the New York Zero-to-Three Network and New York State Association for Infant Mental Health

Authors: Dr. Suzi Tortora & Dr. Miri Keren, Dr. Susan A. Stallings-Sahler & Dr. Gilbert M. Foley, Linda Garofallou, MS,IMHS E@III & Louisa Silva, MD, MPH

Presenters: Natalie Brooks, Ph.D., LCSW-R. IECMH-E

Presenters: Dr. Lisa Wiggins, Dr. Elizabeth Isakson, and Dr. Romina Barros

Presenter: Kiran Malpe, LCSW and Susan Chinitz, Psy,D.

Tribute Memorial for Rebecca Shahmoon Shanok

co-hosts: Barbara Greenstein, Ph.D and Gil Foley, Ed.D

Breakfast for Babies is a collaborative project of NYS-AIMH and NYZTT. Open to all who work with or on behalf of very young children and their families – those who work in childcare and early learning; home visiting; Early Intervention; psychotherapy; child welfare; healthcare; policy and research, and more!

Register Here