FEATURED EVENTS

Join Program Director, Jenene Craig, Ph.D., for an in-depth look at earning your Master’s in Infant, Child, and Family Mental Health and Development at Fielding. In this webinar, we’ll identify key attributes of our program and what distinguishes it from the rest. We will outline our program components, as well as discuss our educational model. Lastly, we will wrap up the webinar with a question and answer session.

The M.A. in Infant, Child, and Family Mental Health and Development degree is designed to support both clinically based as well as education-based professionals to better understand and work with social, emotional, and developmental demands and needs of families. This includes learning how to embed culture, diversity, equity, and inclusion in their work, all of which are central to supporting families appropriately and successfully. Healthy long-term outcomes for children and families depend on having culturally competent practitioners. While many professionals in infant mental health knew there were problems, these problems were not fully recognized in the field until the pandemic laid bare the full scale of challenges, including those related to systemic racism, equity and inclusion, lack of opportunities, and fear. As is universally accepted now, we are facing an unprecedented mental health crisis in our youngest populations through adulthood. Families in particular have borne the brunt, placing infant mental health at the forefront of working with our vulnerable populations and families. Yet, inadequate education and training is hindering the successful outcomes and adding to significant stress of professionals. 

Dr. Jenene Craig

Dr. Craig earned her undergraduate degree in Occupational Therapy from the Medical College of Georgia and her MBA from the University of Alaska-Fairbanks.  She was one of the first students to earn her Ph.D. in IECD from Fielding. Dr. Craig returned to Fielding Graduate University in 2019 as Program Director over the IECD program.

Mother of six grown children, (and a relatively recent “empty-nester,”) she credits her own experience bearing and raising children for the initial spark and her longtime work within the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) world. Since 1985, she has worked with multiple hospitals and groups in leadership, and on Boards of Directors advancing NICU work in Developmentally Supportive and Trauma-Informed Neuroprotective Caregiving.

Citing the importance of self-nurturance, Dr. Craig pursues her love of music, playing and performing jazz saxophone and classical oboe.