Aprobación para Profesionales en el Campo de la Salud Mental Infantil

Información sobre el endoso para profesionales de la infancia y la niñez temprana.

Presenters: Flor Abarca and Veronica Rosa-Sandoval

Flor Abarca, BA, IMH-E®

Flor is a graduate from Southern Illinois University with a Bachelor of Arts in psychology and a minor in criminology. She was raised in a small college town of Carbondale, Illinois and born in Mexico. She speaks Spanish fluently and hopes to help AIMHI as a community liaison with her bilingual skills to reach other Spanish speaking communities in Tennessee that need the knowledge and resources that AIMHI has to offer.

Her passion is to work with adolescents and children. She started as a pre-school teacher in Madison Tennessee at Kings Daughters Developmental center, that is when she knew she wanted to work with toddlers. Flor had challenging behavior in the classroom that expanded knowledge in behavior management by working for the Mental Health and Substance abuse at Regional Intervention Program (RIP) in Nashville. A program dedicated to teaching parents how to shape behavior with negative and positive reinforcement. She loves what RIP’s mission is to help families, but realized she wanted to help families on the broader spectrum and get into the community.

Veronica Rosa-Sandoval, LMSW, IMH-E®

Hola! My name is Veronica Rosa-Sandoval. I am the very first Bilingual/Bicultural Endorsement Central Service Coordinator with over 20 years of experience in the Infant and Early Childhood Mental Health field. Throughout the course of my career, I have worked in many scopes of practice and have always had a true passion for the fostering of emotional well-being in young children and their families. As a case manager and wraparound facilitator, I knew that early relationships were pivotal to reduce risk factors, and to prevent and/or ameliorate emotional problems. My journey really began after working for a head start program in SW Detroit. I realized that if I wanted to help little ones, I had to primarily provide dyadic relationship-based services to make a true impact. In 2018, I got my master’s degree in social work from Wayne State University. I had the honor of being accepted in the Infant Mental Health Dual Title Program and at that time landed a position as an Infant Mental Health Clinician. After providing intensive homebased child and parent psychotherapy to families for 2 years, I decided to sit for the Infant Mental Health Specialist Endorsement Exam and passed, shortly after that I took my licensure exam and became a fully licensed clinician. I have dedicated my life to providing services to “high-risk communities” for many non-profit agencies proudly serving throughout Wayne Metro Detroit. I not only have comprehensive knowledge in Infant and Early Childhood Development, but also in Intellectual & Developmental Delays. One my biggest accomplishments has been advocating for the BIPOC community, by using my Spanish bilingual skills to bring awareness around topics that affect those who are impacted by language barriers. I am a firm believer that it is our job as professionals and human beings to bring more awareness around Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion. Some people may call me “spitfire”, but I say I am just passionate! I hope to continue helping the Alliance for the Advancement of Infant Mental Health and AIMHiTN grow innovatively while maintaining my authenticity. I aspire to keep building connections and professional relationships while collaborating with associates from all AIMHs.

About AIMHiTN

The Association of Infant Mental Health in Tennessee (AIMHiTN) exists to support infants and young children and the adults who impact their early relational health. Our focus is on prenatal care up to a child's sixth birthday because we know it's those earliest years that matter most. AIMHiTN delivers education, training, and resources to assist caregivers, educators, healthcare providers, and other professionals in their everyday interactions with infants, young children, and their families. Our work helps ensure healthy communities and a productive workforce for generations to come, creating a brighter future for all. Simply put, we support the workforce that supports our future workforce.