Why Relationships Really Matter: An Infant Mental Health Perspective

For Eunique Drinkard, MS ’17, working in early intervention is all about relationships. “Erikson was really pivotal in helping me understand that,” she says.

Drinkard came to Erikson in 2014 to pursue her master’s in child development, immediately after completing her undergraduate degree in human development. She realized she wanted to work with children but was unsure in what capacity. “Child development has always been my passion. I always knew I wanted to work with kids.” Because of her deep love for kids, she knew building and maintaining relationships was going to be critical to being successful in the industry. She later returned to Erikson to obtain a certificate in infant mental health, completing the program in 2022.

“At Erikson you really learn to value relationships. In the infant mental health program, you dig into that even more. This is such a huge foundation of who I am as a professional, because of Erikson, I am very well-rounded.” Drinkard has held a wide variety of roles including developmental therapist, early head start inclusion specialist, social emotional learning advisor and she is currently teaching and supporting other projects at Erikson. She says placing a high value on relationships and actively looking at things through an infant mental health lens has been critical to her success in each position she has held. “My work has been more effective because of the relationships.”

Before coming to Erikson, she knew working in infant mental health was about the child and making them comfortable. After completing her degrees with Erikson, she realized it was much deeper than just making difficult situations easy. “I learned to give parents space to say, ‘this is tough.’ I was there to help and validate what they were experiencing.”

One particular family stands out from her time as a developmental therapist. “When I visited the home, things were always overstimulated. The television was always on, the kids were free to play, the mom was running around. For me, it felt like chaos,” she says. “I had to realize; this was their normal. Everyone was fine. I had to respond to what was happening and not how I was feeling. It was about paying attention and ensuring the child has space in their environment. It didn’t make sense to tell everyone to be quiet, that wasn’t their environment.” She credits her infant mental health experience with being able to adapt to any situation she is placed in. She can see past her own bias and see things from the perspective of others.

The infant mental health training also helped Drinkard learn how to pick up on small things like a family’s culture and how they operate from day-to-day. “I am coming in trying to understand their life, their family culture. I value their decisions and show up where they are,” she says. “I want to support the family and help everyone be the best version of themselves. I have been able to use my child development background to give them strategies. But I also give them space to make the decisions that are best for them.”

Drinkard spent several years working directly with families where the children were experiencing delays. “I have supported the child and the parent. Over time, I realized the relationship is actually the client. If the relationship isn’t strong, nothing else matters,” she says. “I have always been intentional about taking time to build trust.”

For Drinkard, being able to view things from an infant mental health perspective has been a game changer. “People respond to me better; they appreciate me more. I have fallen in love with seeing development happen in the moment. Advocating for children and seeing where they are has been very rewarding.”

To learn about Erikson’s new Master of Science in Early Childhood Education (MSECE) Early Intervention with a focus on Infant Mental Health, join us for an information session on September 24