Catherine Langdon is a Child & Family Health nurse. She is registered as a nurse and midwife with AHPRA and holds tertiary qualifications in Maternal and Child Health recognised by the Department of Education and Early childhood Development, Victoria. She is also a member of the ANF, the Australian Association for Infant Mental Health (AAIMH) and the World Association for Infant Mental Health ((WAIMH).

Catherine holds additional qualifications in Psychology- Bachelor and Post Graduate Diploma, Diploma of Family Therapy - Clinical practice, and extensive experiential training, updates and experience in Infant Parent Mental Health, and systemic and strategic psychodynamic practice.

Her experience extends from her work as a Child and Family Health Nurse /Therapist in clinic settings, service co-ordination, enhanced home visiting, early parenting centres, early intervention, parenting assessment and skills development
co-ordinator, to telephone coaching on our 24 hour Maternal and Child line, and 1:1 private consultations.

Catherine is committed to working in partnership with families and family support agencies through provision of specialist in home parenting services, workshops, and staff training to enable understanding of relationship based approaches which enhance knowledge skills and confidence in parents, and secure based relationships for children.

She has a special interest in working with families when they might get stuck in understanding and managing infant and toddler dependency and independency needs which may present as regulatory difficulties eg sleep/settling/feeding/challenging behaviours, sensory processing difficulties.

Catherine draws from evidenced based frameworks which respectfully honour and appreciate the intimacy of the growing infant parent relationship and the need for learning about the other to be experiential, not prescribed.

She is a registered Circle of Security parent educator (www.circleofsecurity.org) a relationship based program which offers families a roadmap, a language, a way of understanding children’s development and working with both their dependency and independency needs.

In observing and “wondering” with parents, she may also integrate some developmental coaching, parent education, child centred play therapy, and/or guided video feedback.

Mindfulness strategies are used with parents to defuse anxieties and gentle coaching enables them to observe and think about their children’s behaviour and developmental needs in a new way.

By providing a secure base for parents Catherine aims to enhance their capacity to reflect and be present, aware and responsive rather than reactive in working with their children’s dependency and independency needs.

Development is not linear, no two children are the same, no two parents are the same. We all struggle as individuals and parents to dance in synchrony with others we love and care for, and about. As human beings we can all get out of step, we can all get stuck, we can all operate reactively/defensively when we feel overwhelmed.  

When we as parents understand the meaning behind behaviour and how to be responsive rather than reactive, we are more confident and empowered. Children experience our emotional availability and our capacity to be present for them. Parents are able to follows their children’s lead whenever possible and be “bigger, stronger and wiser” when they get stuck. They learn they are worthy of our love and commitment and trust we can be with their dysregulated states, without becoming overwhelmed.  A cycle of dyadic co-regulation, trust and love is then repeated, reworked, and repaired enabling healthy self regulation and a strong sense of self, in infants, but also parents as they evolve in their parenting role.

Cathie draws from her training in systemic and strategic therapeutic modalities from Psychodynamic, Trauma, CBT, Mindfulness and Relationship focused frameworks i.e. Circle of Security, Acceptance and Commitment therapy, Psychodynamic play based relationship support, Floortime, to work with families where contextual factors may be making the struggle harder eg:

• Post Natal Anxiety and Depression
• Adjustment difficulties in either or both parents
• Grief/loss issues
• Special needs of Infants or Parents eg physical, intellectual, social emotional disabilities.
• Families requiring family services support and interventions 
• Foster Families
• Permanent Care families

You may be able to obtain a support package to assist your family if your family have additional needs. Catherine is happy to work with other agencies to enable families to access a home visit/support package to address a particular concern.

If you have private health cover check with your provider regarding availability of cover for Specialist Maternal and Child Health visits under allied health benefits.