My week in Ireland has been full of enriching cultural and academic experiences. I got the opportunity to attend an international conference, the World Association of Infant Mental Health Congress, and learn about topics in the psychological field from some of the pioneers in the field.
Coming into this abroad program, I had an interest in learning more about child psychology and psychopathology as a whole and found the focus on learning about infant mental health in particular to be very interesting. During the conference, I got the opportunity to hear lectures from prominent psychologists in the field about landmark studies and interventions that took place pertaining to studying infant development and then treating infant pathologies.
One group of speakers consists of Dr. Charles Zeanah, Dr. Nathan Fox, and Dr. Charles Nelson, the principal investigators of the Bucharest Early Intervention Project (BEIP) which studied the development of Romanian orphans in foster care and institutional care in a randomized controlled design. I remembered learning about this project in classes in the previous semester and it was amazing to hear about this fascinating project in person from the researchers themselves. Another key figure who spoke at the conference was Dr. Mary Dozier, who engineered the Attachment Bio-behavioral Catchup intervention which aims at supporting parents and young children who face early adversity. It was a great opportunity to hear from Dr. Dozier about the intervention and how it has been effective in families with young children, and to learn about the methods for implementing the intervention and future directions for the ABC intervention.
Attending this conference has enforced my interests in learning more about children’s mental health, but sparked more interest in the field of infant mental health and how the minds of newborns are understood. I also found learning about how the role of the families, particularly mothers, are important to treating newborns. This conference opened my eyes to a very important field of psychology with topics that I am more keen on exploring in my future.
Outside of the conference, I also had a great time exploring Dublin and other parts of Ireland. One of the highlights from the past week was visiting the Cliffs of Moher, which was a longtime dream of mine and the wait was definitely worth it! In Dublin itself, I was able to hit some typical tourist attractions like St. Patrick’s Cathedral, EPIC Museum, and the National Gallery. It was great to see the rich culture and history of Ireland and how its influences have spread throughout the world. Some of my favorite moments came from following the live music in Dublin’s city and then meeting new people from around the world and hearing about their time in Ireland. This abroad trip was truly an amazing experience and I’m excited to use what I have learned from this time in my future!
