### Collaborative Consultation with Parents and Infants in the Perinatal Period

**Author:** [Zack Boukydis, Ph.D.](https://products.brookespublishing.com/cw_Contributorinfo.aspx?ContribID=3428&Name=Zack+Boukydis,Ph.D.)  
**Get practical, step-by-step guidance on supporting new parents through collaborative consultation:** respectful and equal partnerships that increase parents’ skills and responsiveness and help them nurture their baby’s development.

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### Overview

When professionals listen to and support new parents in the perinatal period, families enjoy long-lasting benefits from stronger attachment to increased parent responsiveness and confidence. This guidebook shows practitioners how to conduct effective, collaborative consultation sessions that help parents and infants in the critical first few months of life.

Developed by an experienced clinician and researcher, this accessible guide helps practitioners form productive, equal partnerships with new parents, based on warm and attentive listening and responding. A wide range of professionals, including doctors, nurses, psychologists, social workers, and home visitors, will discover how to:

- understand and document **key aspects of infant behavior and child-parent interaction**
- **observe the baby together with parents**, engaging in thoughtful observation and respectful communication
- develop strong **active listening skills** so they can better understand and support parents
- guide parents in “reading” their baby’s **cry patterns** and developing strategies for **soothing**
- **transform potential misperceptions of the infant** that may interfere with parent-child bonding
- collaborate with parents during a **structured neurobehavioral assessment**
- conduct **ultrasound consultations** with mothers-to-be to increase their sense of connection with the baby
- explore how **the consultant’s own feelings**, intuitions, and bodily reactions can help uncover what parents and infants need
- tailor the consultation framework for **preterm** and/or **substance-exposed infants** and their parents

Principles of effective consultation come to life with clear examples and engaging vignettes, and the forms and tools—including Observation of Infant Neurobehavior, See Me Develop form, My Baby’s Behavior Diary, Cry Consultation Interview, Ultrasound Session Coding System, NETHELP social support interview, and Six Steps of Focusing—help consultants collaborate successfully with parents and record key information.

A positive, strengths-based approach for supporting infants and families, this book will help practitioners effectively nurture parent-infant attachment and give newborns the best chance for healthy development.

### Reviews

**Kathleen VandenBerg**, Center Director/NIDCAP Master Trainer, West Coast NIDCAP & APIB Training Center, University of California San Francisco  
“Some authors break through our current understanding with applications of former work that guide professionals to provide best practice. This book does just that . . . This is a must-read for NICU and perinatal professionals.”

**Alison Steier**, Director, Harris Infant and Early Childhood Mental Health Training Institute, Southwest Human Development  
“Dr. Boukydis attends to and is deeply respectful of the experiences of the infant, the parent and the consultant. This book will be a valuable resource for students and practitioners from the many disciplines in the infant–family arena.”

**Rosemarie Bigsby**, The Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University  
“Sensitively navigates previously uncharted waters, to instruct clinicians in an essential area of practice—how to optimally engage caregivers in neurobehavioral assessment and intervention with their neonate. Highly recommended for all practitioners who are conducting neurobehavioral assessments.”

**Angela Tomlin**, Indiana University School of Medicine  
“Very practical, but still grounded in research . . . a novel and valuable contribution to the infant mental health literature.”

**Download "My Baby's Behavior Diary"**  
[Help parents better understand their baby's cry patterns and other behaviors](/content/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/boukydis-cry-diary.pdf)