Mentalizing the Body in Research and Clinical Practice: Parental Embodied Mentalizing Assessment (PEMA™)
View all our upcoming MBT-CYP trainingAbout this course
Intensive Clinical Training Program for Professionals Working with Infants and Parents.
We are pleased to announce that Professor Peter Fonagy will be delivering the 'Introduction to PEMA in Context' between 10:00 - 11:00 on the first day. Drs Dana Shai and Rose Spencer will lead the rest of the training.
In the first year of life the baby communicates his or her mental states through bodily movements, and the caregiver manifests her understanding of the infant’s mental state via bodily gestures and the accent accompanying every movement. Based on a rich body of developmental research, it is evident that mentalizing must be embodied during the pre-language period.
The Parental Embodied Mentalizing Assessment (PEMA™) is a 12-point tool used to assess non-verbal risk and protective factors in parent-infant (0-2) dyads. PEMA™ is based on over a decade of empirical research in which PEM has been found to be associated with parental mental health and predict infant’s security of attachment, behaviour problems, and cognitive functioning in infancy and childhood.
Drawing from this evidence-base, this 5-day course orients professionals working with parents and infants to using PEMA™ in their clinical work. PEMA™ Intensive Training Program is an in-depth training where participants will learn to identify parent-infant embodied circles of communication and specific elements of parent-infant communication through didactic and experiential exercises and video examples to explore key features of parent-infant nonverbal communication and their significance in child development.
Additional time information
Please note the training schedule allows delegates time to code independently for homework which must be completed overnight and which will form the basis of discussion the next day.
Anna Freud brings together those with a stake in the mental health of children and young people. Please subscribe to our mailing list to receive a bi-monthly e-newsletter and occasional updates about Anna Freuds training and events.

Dr Dana Shai
Dana Shai, Ph.D., a faculty member at the Academic College Tel Aviv Yaffo, Israel.

Dr Rose Spencer
Deputy Lead Principal Perinatal Psychologist