United States

The Brazelton Institute at Boston Children’s Hospital

The Brazelton Institute was founded in 1995 at Boston Children's Hospital, where both the NBAS and NBO originated. The Institute continues to be the coordinating hub for NBAS and NBO training sites around the world. The unprecedented COVID-19 crisis has changed the classic in-person approach to NBO training, so that all upcoming 2019 and 2020 Brazelton Institute NBO Training sessions are being held online. Trainings are team taught by two faculty members with an emphasis on interactive exchange and hands-on practice. In this new on-line program, all trainees have easy access to a learning management system (LMS), which streamlines how trainees can interact with course content and provides accessible exchange of information with the NBO trainer.   The new interactive on-line “live” program is followed by “live” reflective practice “telementoring” sessions and are offered in a discussion forum, so that NBO trainers can provide feedback to trainees through comments or email when using this LMS. For further information email us at brazelton.institute@childrens.harvard.edu. For more news about recent Brazelton Institute activities, see below.

The University of Wisconsin at Madison NBO Training Site

Based in the Department of Psychiatry in the School of Medicine and Public Health at the University of Wisconsin in Madison, the NBO Training site was launched in September, 2018. During the pandemic, online NBO training is being offered through the University of Wisconsin Infant, Early Childhood and Family Mental Health Capstone Certificate Program. NBO faculty includes: Roseanne Clark, Sarah Strong, Julie Winkelmann, Gretchen Becker-Crabb and Janna Hack. For further information, please click on: https://ifmh.psychiatry.wisc.edu or contact Faculty Director, Roseanne Clark at rclark@wisc.edu or Capstone Certificate Program Co-Director, Sarah Strong, at sstrong@wisc.edu.

The Napa, CA (UC Davis) NBO Training Site

The Napa NBO Training site is based in the Parent-Infant & Child Institute in Napa, CA, home of the U.C. Davis Napa Infant-Parent Mental Health Fellowship. Kristie Brandt and a multidisciplinary team consisting of Rachel Talamantez, Mary Beth Steinfeld, Stephanie Paravicini and Sharon Zone, are planning to offer on-line NBO training in 2021. For further information on the program, please click on: https://cpe.ucdavis.edu/autism-spectrum-disorder/napa-infant-parent-mental-health-fellowship or contact Dr. Kristie Brandt directly at PICIinfo@mail.com.

In 2019, the team team completed training for forty-one practitioners including thirty-one 2019-2020 IPMH Fellows and a group of 10 practitioners from throughout northern California. In 2018, they trained a group of twenty-five practitioners in Humboldt County, California and thirty-two 2018-2019 Napa Fellows. The mission of the training site is to provide both comprehensive training and extensive reflective supervision for those trained.

Recent News about the Brazelton Institute Activities

On-Line Training

The first on-line “live” NBO trainings were presented by the Brazelton Institute group, where Yvette Blanchard and Beth McManus presented virtual NBO training to Early Intervention practitioners, who are working for the State of Ohio, Department of Developmental Disabilities.  Lise Johnson and Jayne Singer and Jayne Singer and Alexandra Harrison have also completed a number of three-day “live” synchronous NBO training, followed by “live” reflective practice “telementoring” sessions. The response to the on-line training has been overwhelmingly positive:

  • “I think you guys did a wonderful job adjusting the training to the virtual format. I appreciate all of the hard work and don’t feel any content was missed and am walking away feeling confident in my training”

  • “I think this was very well organized and helpful. I did enjoy the breakout rooms and chances to practice”

  • “The presentation worked really well on the Zoom platform. I enjoyed that we could still view the example videos and that breakout rooms were available for small group discussion/practice”. 

  • “As I reflect on the this past week, I just have to say that I feel this training has been one of the best experiences I have had in my professional life."

The following on-line trainings have been presented in 2020:

  • Yvette Blanchard, Sc.D., P.T. and Beth McManus, PT, MPH, ScD. presented a two-day “live” synchronous virtual NBO certification training program to practitioners from a range of disciplines and a range of countries on July 13-14th, 2020.

  • Yvette Blanchard, Sc.D., P.T. and Alex Harrison, MD presented a three-day “live” synchronous virtual NBO certification training program to practitioners from a range of disciplines and from a range of countries on September 21-23rd, 2020.

  • Beth McManus PT, MPH, ScD and Jayne Singer Ph.D presented a three-day synchronous on-line NBO training on September 14-16th. to participants from West Virginia University.   

  • Lise Johnson MD and Jayne Singer PhD presented a three-day synchronous on-line NBO training on October 19-21st. to participants from West Virginia University. 

  • Yvette Blanchard Sc.D., P.T and Beth McManus PT, MPH, ScD presented a two-day synchronous on-line NBO training on October 19-20th to national and international participants working with High-Risk Infants.

  • Joanna Hawthorne, Ph.D., and Aditi Subramaniam, LMHC, R-DMT, presented a three-day “live” synchronous virtual NBO certification training program to practitioners from a range of disciplines from around the world, on Nov. 9-11th

  • Yvette Blanchard, Sc.D., P.T. and J. Kevin Nugent Ph.D., presented a three-day “live” synchronous virtual NBO certification training program to practitioners from a range of disciplines at the Young Knocknaheeny Area Based Childhood Programme, Cork, Ireland, Nov 30th-Dec.2nd.

  • Lise Johnson MD and J. Kevin Nugent, Ph.D., presented a three-day “live” synchronous virtual NBO certification training program to practitioners from a range of disciplines in the University of Massachusetts, Boston, Infant Parent Mental Health Postgraduate Certificate Program, December 11-13th.  

Leaders in the Field First Friday Webinar Series

The “Leaders in the Field” Webinar series takes place on the First Friday of every month.  The first Presentation in the series was presented on July 3rd by Campbell Paul, Associate Professor, MBBS, FRANZCP, Certified Child and Adolescent Child Psychiatrist, Royal Children's Hospital Parkville, Victoria, Australia and newly elected President of World Association of Infant Mental Health and visiting psychiatrist to the Victorian Aboriginal Health Service. His talk was entitled “The Baby Wished for More… Helping troubled parents see their baby in the newborn period and the role of the Newborn Behavioural Observation with hospitalised infants and their families, even with telehealth”. On Friday September 4th, Ed Tronick, Professor, Developmental Brain Science, University of Massachusetts Boston spoke on “T. B. Brazelton’s Newborn Assessment and Its Grandchildren”. Nadia Bruschweiler-Stern, Director of the Swiss Brazelton Center and consultant psychiatrist at the University Hospitals of Geneva, spoke on “What is the psychological process taking place during the sensitive time of birth, when we step in with the Brazelton Scale or the NBO. On Friday November 6th,  Professor Charles Nelson, from our own Division, spoke on Sensitive Periods in Development.  On December 4th, Colwyn Trevarthen, Emeritus Professor of Developmental Psychobiology at Edinburgh University presented on Human Life and Learning Before Language: Innate Motives for Wellbeing and Cultural Common Sense and Their Early Development.

Publications 

Jayme Congdon, J. Kevin Nugent, Beth McManus, Michael Coccia, Nicole Bush (2020). A Pilot Validation Study of the Newborn Behavioral Observations System: Associations with Salivary Cortisol and Temperament. Journal of Developmental & Behavioral Pediatrics, 2020 Dec; 41(9):716-723. doi: 10.1097/DBP.0000000000000842.

Jessica Shoaff, J. Kevin Nugent, T. Berry Brazelton & Susan Korrick, (2020). Early Infant Behavioral Correlates of Social Skills in Adolescence. The Journal of Pediatric and Perinatal Epidemiology. Accepted August, 2020. DOI: 10.1111/ppe.12723 

McManus, B., Blanchard, Y., Murphy, N., Nugent, J. K. The effects of the Newborn Behavioral Observations (NBO) system in Early Intervention: a multisite, randomized controlled trial. Infant Mental Health Journal, Published on-line August 20, 2020: https://doi.org/10.1002/imhj.21882

Awards and Recognition:

Dr. Lise Johnson was named 2020 Distinguished Clinician for her work in Pediatrics and Neonatal Medicine at the Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Boston. 

Presentations  

  • J. Kevin Nugent, Ph.D., and Aditi Subramaniam, LMHC, R-DMT presented a Master Lecture on “The NBO and Infant Mental Health” at the Infant Mental Health Fellowship Certificate Program teaching day, Jewish Family and Community Services, Waltham, Mass. on November 20th. 2020.

  • J. Kevin Nugent, Ph.D. spoke on “The NBO: an interactive tool to strengthen the parent-infant relationship” at the virtually relayed III Convegno Internazionale, Roma, on December 18-19th, 2020.

  • Lise Johnson, MD spoke on “The Use of the Newborn Behavioral Observation (NBO) System in the Care of the High Risk Newborn” at the virtually presented Indonesia Pediatric Society’s Second Indonesian Update Growth and Development Social Pediatrics (GaDSOP) on December 18th, 2020.

Bright Start Foundation Webinar Series

As part of the Bright Start Foundation Webinar Series for Parents in the United Arab Emirates, “Parenting During a Pandemic and Beyond”, the Brazelton Institute presented the following webinars:

  • Jayne Singer, Ph.D. presented “Your Baby is speaking to You – Communicating with Your Baby” on October 18th, 2020, as part of the Bright Start Foundation Webinar Series for Parents in the United Arab Emirates, “Parenting During a Pandemic and Beyond”.

  • Beril Bayrak, MD presented “Your Baby's Growth: from Conception to Birth” on October 25th 2020, as part of the Bright Start Foundation Webinar Series for Parents in the United Arab Emirates, “Parenting During a Pandemic and Beyond”.

  • Aditi Subramaniam, LMHC, R-DMT, spoke on “Life Changes After the Baby Arrives” on Nov 1st.  

  • Yvette Blanchard Sc.D., P.T. addressed the question “Is my baby okay?” in her presentation on Nov 8th.

  • Joanna Hawthorne, PhD., spoke on “Fathers and Babies: Getting to know each other” on Nov.17th

  • Rita Al-Minwayi, Senior Neonatal Nurse, spoke on “Parenting on NICU in a Pandemic” on Nov. 22nd, 2020.