Infant and Early Childhood Mental Health Training and Consultation
Resilience Begins with You
Infant and Early Childhood Mental Health Training and Consultation
Resilience Begins with You
About
Biography
Biography
Biography
Jess Bernal is a licensed marriage and family therapist committed to providing the best training, education, and support to those dedicated to providing care and building resilience in young children and their families. Core values: inclusion, diversity, and social justice.
Services
Biography
Biography
Jess has a rich resume in providing training, consultation, workshops, and reflective supervision on a multitude of topics related to early childhood mental health and disabilities. All services are individualized so any audience can access the information. This includes: Parents, teachers, home visitors, therapists, managers, and directors.
Contact
Biography
Contact
Click the link below to contact Jess to further discuss availability, topics, and rates.
Biography
Education and Credentials
- Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist
- Master's degree in Counseling Psychology
- Certificate of Specialization in Infant and Early Childhood Mental Health Consultation (IECMHC)
- Certificate of Specialization in Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA)
- Child-Parent Psychotherapy (CCP) Rostered
- EMDR Trained Therapist
- Adjunct Professor at Pacific Oaks College
Work Experience
- Trauma-Informed Care
- 0-5 Population
- Therapeutic, Behavioral, and Educational Consultation and Reflective Supervision
- Head Start and Early Head Start Consultation
- Infant and Early Childhood Mental Health
- Inclusion, Children with Autism and Developmental Delays
- Interpersonal Neurobiology Research
- Providing psychotherapy (individual, parent-child)
Highlights
- The Developing Mind Research Team with Dr. Daniel Seigel
- ZERO TO THREE Annual Conference Presenter, Denver, CO
- Keynote Speaker "9th Annual Inclusion Collaborative State Conference", San Jose, CA
- Keynote Speaker "Connecting the Dots" An Early Childhood Education Conference- Olympic Education Service Bremerton, WA,
- Keynote Speaker "Disabilities Possibilities Conference", CA 2016 and 2018
- San Gabriel Pomona Regional Center Presenter 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021
- Head Start Health Institute Presenter 2017, 2022
- UCLA-DMH Early Childhood Fellowship Presenter, 2019, 2020, 2021
- T/TA and consultation to multiple Head Starts in Region 9
Training and Services
My Approach
Challenging behaviors? Self Care? Trauma? Brain Development? Disabilities? My goal is to take the most relevant and important information when working with young children and be able to engage multiple audiences. Each training can be modified to the varying needs of:
- Teachers
- Home Visitors, Family Support Specialists, and other direct services providers
- Therapists and Social Workers
- Parents and Caregivers
- Administrators
- More...
NEW! Head Start and Early Head Start Consultation
With almost a decade of experience working within the Mental Health and Disabilities content areas of both Head Start and Early Head Start programs, Jess is now offering consultation services to ensure that Head Start and Early Head Start grantees are not only meeting program requirements, but thriving in their support to children and families with mental health and disability needs. Examples of consultation support include:
- Policy and Procedure Support and Review
- Performance standard evaluation
- Mental Health and Disabilities Systems Organization
- Wellness Promotion evaluation, implementation, and support (1302.45 a, 1-4)
- Mental Health Consultant evaluation, implementation, and support (1302.45 b, 1-6)
- Additional services for children evaluation, implementation, and support (1302.61)
NEW! COVID Specific Training
The challenges faced over the past year have opened up a new level of need children, teachers, parents, and us as individuals below are a set of trainings developed specifically for needs related to COVID-19:
- Self-Care and Wellness for Helping Professionals: COVID Edition
- Self-Care and Wellness for Parents COVID Edition
- Supporting Children and Families through Grief and Loss
- Social Emotional Growth and Challenging Behaviors: Supporting Children’s Return to the Classroom
- Parenting Fatigue: Tools to Help Parents Cope
- How Trauma Impacts the Brain and Body of Young Children
Workshops
New workshops designed to meet your organization's needs. Workshops can be individualized.
- Staff Wellness Workshop
A three part series for teachers, therapists, and health care providers covering:
Vicarious Trauma, Burn-Out, and Emotional Fatigue; signs, symptoms and more
Assessing Self-Care, Activities in Motion, and Sustainability
Barriers Assessment, Follow-Through, and On-Going Practice
- Trauma Informed Care Workshop*
A three part series teachers, therapists, and health care providers covering:
How Trauma Impacts Young Children: Brain and Body
How Trauma Impacts Behavior and Create Safety for Children
Providing safety for Parents and Caregivers: Historical and Transgenerational Trauma, and Social/Cultural Implication (*Meets Head Start Performance Standard 1302.45)
- Parent Education Workshop*
- Now offering a variety of trainings specifically aimed to support parents and caregivers. Examples of topics included are: Parent Fatigue and Self Care, Challenging Behaviors, Mindful Parenting, Secure Attachment (*Meets Head Start Performance Standard 1302.46 a)
Popular Training Topics
Below is a sample of some of the most frequently requested training topics. All topics can be adapted to different audiences and time lengths depending on your program need:
Social/Emotional/Behavioral and Mental Health Content Areas:
- 0-5 Brain Development and Understanding Challenging Behaviors
- Becoming Trauma Informed: Adverse Childhood Experience and The Effects of Trauma (Part I and stand alone)
- Becoming Trauma Informed: Working with Children Exposed to Trauma (Part II, must be done in tandem with above training)
- Increasing Social and Emotional Development
- Self Care for Professionals in the Helping Field
- Mandated Reporting and Child Abuse Prevention
- Sharing Joy and Calming Chaos: The Importance of Attachment
- Supporting Transgender and Gender Expansive Children
Disabilities and Inclusion Content Areas:
- ASQ-3 and ASQ:SE Training (Ages and Stages Questionnaire)
- Supporting Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder
- Creating Inclusive Classrooms and Home Visits
- Supporting Parents and Caregivers of Children with Special Needs
- Increasing Social and Emotional Development for Children with Special Needs
Individualized Trainings
Have a specific training need for your staff? A certain topic you need to cover for your performance standards? We can work together to create an individualized training to meet your programs needs.
Training Structure
Training structures vary and can be modified to meet your organizations need.
- Multiple Day
- Full Day
- Half Day
- Hourly
- Keynote
- Panel