
FAN training
Facilitating Attuned Interactions (FAN)
Learn our approach to building better relationships with parents. Receive training and consulting from our experts.
You Can Build Better Relationships with Parents
Partner with Erikson to learn the Facilitating Attuned Interactions approach, which we refer to as FAN. FAN’s ultimate goal is strengthening the provider-parent relationship, resulting in parents who are attuned to their infants and ready to try new ways of relating to them.
Although created for Erikson’s Fussy Baby Network, FAN can be applied beyond issues of infancy and can be thought of as both a conceptual model and a practical tool for building relationships in a wide range of settings.
The Facilitating Attuned Interactions (FAN) Tools You Need
We are a training program that believes people need to feel connected and understood in order to be open to change. Our FAN tool ensures practitioners read cues from parents and themselves and thus, provide empathetic and appropriate responses.
What to Expect from Your FAN Training
Who is the FAN approach for?
- Programs and systems that seek to promote parent engagement and build staff reflective capacity
- Home visitation programs
- Center-based infant and early childhood programs
- Early intervention Part C programs
- Infant and early childhood mental health services including consultation
- Pediatric residency training, primary care pediatrics, and NICU staff
- Child welfare agencies
- Other social work and early childhood professionals
- Youth mentoring programs (in collaboration with Loyola University)
Types of FAN Training Offered
Training For Programs
- Introductory Training (1 Day)
- FAN CORE Training
- Level I training for supervisors and staff (typically 2 days)
- Booster trainings and/or mentoring during 6-9 months of Level II Reflective Practice
- Final Day of Training for Integration and Sustainability Planning
Train-The-Trainer
Erikson works with state systems, larger programs, and academic institutions to prepare their professional development staff members to become FAN trainers.
FAN training is aligned with the Alliance for the Advancement of Infant Mental Health’s Endorsement for Culturally Sensitive, Relationship-based Practice Promoting Infant Mental Health®.
Evidence the FAN Method Works
With the FAN approach to home visiting practitioners focused more on parenting, were more reflective and collaborative, and felt less burnout. Supervisors were more self-aware and asked more questions. They were better able to help home visitors process their feelings, and provided supervision which was more reflective.
Erikson conducted its own research with the University of Illinois at Chicago. It found that pediatric residents using the FAN approach to family engagement reported being more empathic and mindful. They were also more satisfied with their communication with families.
National Facilitating Attuned Interactions (FAN) Network
For more information on how to join the national network or if you’d like your organization to be trained on the FAN model, reach out to our team.