CPD Empower: Relational OT Practice: Infant Mental Health and the Parent-Child Connection
This workshop introduces occupational therapists to the principles of infant mental health and how these can be applied in day-to-day practice. Focusing on the parent–child relationship, the session explores how attachment, co-regulation and reflective functioning can shape assessment and intervention. Participants will gain practical strategies for using a relational approach when working with children and families in paediatric and mental health settings.
Program Overview
CPD Empower
This workshop is part of CPD Empower - OTA’s national CPD event series offering in-depth, OT-specific workshops across key areas of practice. Designed for both experienced clinicians and those ready to stretch themselves, each workshop stream delivers high quality immersive learning, expert facilitation, and practical insights you can take straight back into your work. For more information about the full CPD Empower experience, visit https://otaus.com.au/cpd-empower
Workshop Overview
This workshop will enhance your practice by developing your understanding of the context of the parent-child relationship and application of attachment and infant mental health principles.
Principles of infant mental health can complement our core OT skills informing our work across the lifespan. Having a greater understanding of the parent-child dyad can expand and enrich our clinical practice. This workshop is designed for occupational therapists working with children and/or their carers.
Relationships and connections are key to development, health and well-being. Research shows that interventions are more effective when the focus is on the relationship, and when we consider the family context in which development occurs. Our challenge is to deliver relationship-based interventions within systems that often focus on fixing different parts of the child or parent in isolation. Infant mental health offers key insights into meeting this challenge.
One of the most helpful concepts from infant mental health is the importance of parental reflective functioning. When parents are assisted to make sense of the child’s mental states, this enhances relational connectedness and the child’s emotional regulation. This workshop will explore how to incorporate a reflective and relational approach in our clinical work.
LEARNING OBJECTIVES
In this workshop, participants will:
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Consider how attachment theory and infant mental health principles relate to the core business of occupational therapy.
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Explore how relationships shape the developing brain in terms of regulation of sensation, emotion and attention and later on the capacity for reciprocity, cooperation and partnerships.
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Reflect on sensory processing and emotional regulation and how these fit within a relational framework.
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Understand the practicalities and process of relationship-based work in the course of assessment, goal setting, and therapeutic interventions.
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Analyse the importance and process of reflective function within ourselves as therapists and in the therapeutic relationship.
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Be able to consider and facilitate parental reflective function (i.e. parent’s capacity to make sense of the child’s mental states).
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Use practice examples to consider how to integrate a relational focus in your work.
Who can enrol
This session is suitable for:
This workshop is suitable for practitioners at all levels and may interest those working in paediatric and mental health areas of practice.
WORKSHOP DETAILS
DATE
Wednesday 17th September 2025
TIMES
Registration: 8:30am - 9:00am
Workshop: 9:00am - 5:00pm
Networking event: 5:00pm - 6:00pm
VENUE
Novotel Perth Langley
221 Adelaide Terrace, Perth
CPD HOURS
Total CPD claimable workshop hours: 6.5 hours
Please allow 48 hours for your CPD Certificate to be loaded in your CPD Tracker after course completion
All registrants will be provided with access to an online account via an email sent out upon registration.
REGISTRATION FEES
OTA MEMBER
Earlybird - $695 - register on or before 7th Agust 2025
Standard - $770 - register on or after 8th August 2025
NON MEMBER
Standard: $1080
No early bird available for non-members
(All pricing is inclusive of GST)
*Registrations close 3rd September 2025, 11.55pm AEST.
Members must be logged in with username and password in order to register at the member rate.
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INCLUSIONS: (Just for F2F)
The following are included in your registration:
- Tea & Coffee on arrival
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Daily Catering - Morning tea, lunch and afternoon tea (please note any dietary requirements at time of registration)
DISCLAIMER
All information is correct at the time of publication. OTA reserves the right to alter or delete items from the CPD calendar as required, and takes no responsibility for any errors, omissions, and changes.
All resources including copies of the presentation, along with all supporting documents and links are not for distribution and are the property of the presenter.
An OTA staff member or representative may be photographing this event for use in OTA publications and/or on OTA social media sites. If you do not wish to be photographed, or have your image published please make this known to the OTA representative at your course or contact OTA on 1300 682 878 or info@otaus.com.au
TERMS AND CONDITIONS
Terms and Conditions including OTA’s refund and cancellation policy are available here
CONTACT US
Please email info@otaus.com.au or phone 1300 682 878
Presented By
Catherine Daly
Occupational Therapist
Catherine Daly is an Occupational Therapist/Child and Family Therapist who has worked extensively with infants, children and families requiring specialist assessment and intervention for psychosocial, mental health and developmental difficulties. As part of her therapeutic work, Catherine helps parents to facilitate more meaningful interactions with their children. Her experience in public mental health and non-government organisations includes community, hospital-based, consultation liaison, and acute settings as an infant mental health therapist, occupational therapist, case manager, and in senior leadership roles. Catherine currently works with OTA in the Professional Practice Advisor mental health role and has a small Brisbane based private practice called What About Play.
Chris Hodges
Occupational Therapist
Chris Hodges is an Occupational Therapist with over 30 years experience in the areas of child development and infant mental health. She has worked in government, non-government and private practice settings, including for 13 years as an infant mental health clinician in the Mater Infant Parent Service and Zero to Four Child and Youth Mental Health Service. She has also completed post graduate training in Perinatal and Infant Mental Health. Chris has a special interest in finding ways to integrate relationship based and developmental frameworks, supporting the unfolding of children’s social-emotional well-being and development in the context of their most important relationships. She currently works as an Infant Mental Health Consultant with the C&K Dixon Street Early Years Centre. This is part of a project with the Parkville Institute and University of Melbourne, researching the impact of attachment based early childhood education with children from disadvantaged backgrounds. Chris also has her own private practice (Early Journey Occupational Therapy), providing relationship focused early intervention and professional supervision.