Tackling the elephants in the room, part 2: Unpacking implicit bias and moving from equity to justice

Discover how to recognize and acknowledge the causes of implicit bias in this continuation of Tackling the Elephants, Part 1. Explore strategies for identifying this common human response and connecting them to behaviors they elicit. By harnessing this knowledge, become better able to create environments of safety in which issues of inequity and justice in relationship to oneself, as well as to the families and children one serves, may be addressed. Reflective skills are introduced and practiced as established relationship qualities needed in order to discuss the uncomfortable realities of injustice and all types of discrimination.

Learning objectives

1. Increase participants’ awareness of the impact of implicit bias on our thoughts, feelings, and behaviors. 
2. Outline the neurological foundations that underscore our fundamental need for belonging and simultaneously create group member divisions across groups such as race, faith, or gender.
3. Consider the need for increased emotional understanding, compassion, and regulation (emotional and physical) in discussions of social inequity and racism.
4. Understand the link between feelings and thinking so that it supports our ability to facilitate uncomfortable discussions around why this topic is personally triggering. We as members of the infant and early childhood mental health (IECMH) community will discover better tools in the battle against racism and inequity.

Content author

Barbara Stroud, PhD, is a licensed psychologist with a rich clinical and administrative background in culturally informed clinical practice within the fields of early childhood development and mental health. She is a founding organizer and the inaugural president (2017-2019) of the California Association for Infant Mental Health, a member of the Academy of ZERO TO THREE Fellows, and holds prestigious endorsements as an Infant-Family and Early Childhood Mental Health Specialist/Reflective Practice Facilitator Mentor. In April of 2018, Dr. Stroud was honored with the Bruce D. Perry Spirit of the Child Award.

Additionally, Dr. Stroud’s book How to Measure a Relationship [published 2012] is improving infant mental health practices around the globe and is now available in Spanish. Her newest text, an Amazon best seller Intentional Living: Finding the Inner Peace to Create Successful Relationships, walks the reader through a deeper understanding of how their brain influences relationships. Both volumes are currently available on Amazon. Dr. Stroud is also a contributing author to the text Infant and Early Childhood Mental Health: Core Concepts and Clinical Practice, edited by Kristie Brandt, Bruce Perry, Steve Seligman, and Ed Tronick. In all things, Dr. Stroud remains steadfast in her mission to “change the world – one relationship at a time.”

Intended audience

Supervisor, practitioner, decision maker

Knowledge and competency areas

Cultural Humility, Contemplation

additional information

• Module takes 3 hours to complete.
• In addition to private assignments, participants will engage in learning through posts to discussion boards and video recorded responses.
• Student receives a 3-clock-hour certificate of completion.
• The knowledge competency areas in this module have been assigned by the Alliance for the Advancement of Infant Mental Health and meet IMH-E®/ECMHE® training and renewal requirements.
• Access to module is good for one year, starting on the date of registration.
• Learn more about this module in a Q & A with the author.