Introducing the National Workforce Centre for Child Mental Health: Improving the lives of infants, children and families

Infants and children are exposed to many experiences, both nurturing and stressful, that influence their mental health (Dogar, 2007). Early childhood mental health involves being able to experience, manage and express emotions; form close, satisfying relationships; and explore and discover the environment (KidsMatter, 2012). Most children learn to cope with adversity, express and regulate emotions, form close and secure relationships, and explore their environment with behaviours appropriate to their individual personality, ecological environment and developmental stage. As well as physical development, children develop socially and emotionally, that is they develop skills around managing relationships, their feelings and interactions with their broader environment. The majority of children, with support from the adults in their life, learn to express and manage emotions in healthy ways, nurture social relationships and successfully contend with life's challenges.