Child Development Program (CDP)

Current Programs

On Site Pre-school consultation (1989 - present): We have been providing pro bono services to San Francisco pre-schools since 1989, when Shahla Chehrazi began volunteering time and then recruited Zenobia Grusky to consult under her guidance. In 1995, Eileen Keller joined the project and volunteered for six years at a low income pre-school, Great Beginnings, in the East Bay. She also supervised a mental health professional, Piera Piagentini, in a tutorial that included services to another east bay pre-school, Little Learners, under her supervision. Ken Roberson, a candidate at SFCP, joined this program in 2001, volunteering his time under Dr. Chehrazi's supervision, at Marin Day School. Era Loewenstein, an adult and child analyst also consults to Eureka Learning Center. In addition, CDP funds Marilyn Gradeck, a child psychologist, to lead a group of pre-school director's that has been meeting monthly since 2001.

In 2004, Era Loewenstein, with the help of Phyllis Cath, former chair of CDP, won two grants to support the pre-school work that she and Marilyn Gradeck are performing. Under those grants, Dr. Cath and Dr. Loewenstein will offer three workshops to the staff and directors of the preschools involved through the directors' group. In addition, Drs. Gradeck and Loewenstein will receive a small stipend for the consultation in the pre-schools. SFCP continues to support the directors group, through CDP.

CDP also enabled the member of the directors’ group to join APsaA, under the new educator associates category and attend the 2004 Spring APsaA a conference held in San Francisco.

AUTISM: An Interdisciplinary Approach to Early Recognition and Treatment of Infants and Toddlers

Psychoanalytic Preschool Consultation Project

Child Psychotherapy Seminars

Early Childhood Mental Health Program (1999-present)

Program Director: L. Eileen Keller, Ph.D., psychoanalyst and psychologist
Mental Health Consultants: Joanne Crawford, Ph.D., Jessica Herbold, Ph.D., Mike Scott, LCSW
Consultant: Shahla Chehrazi, M.D.

San Francisco Center for Psychoanalysis receive a grant from San Francisco Community Mental Health, funded by state and federal grants, to provide mental health consultation services to three sites, two San Francisco Unified School District Child Development Centers and one community day care administered by EOC. Our consultants provide a variety of services, including playgroups, parent consultation, teacher consultation and family support activities, developed in collaboration with the site staff. Our primary goals are to increase the awareness of and knowledge about children's need for secure relationships in early childhood care and education. We focus on staff development and teacher/child, teacher/parent, and parent/child relationships, since we believe that all learning in young children occurs in the context of relationships to adults.

The Four Protective Factors:
   1. Consistency
   2. Structure
   3. Emotional Support
   4. Appropriate Stimulation

These are the factors we believe enhance a young child's environment at home and at school and protect the ordinary course of development. Our activities are geared toward increasing knowledge and implementation of these factors in the overall school setting. In addition, we work with teachers and staff to identify individual children and families in need of services.

Our services are organized in three areas: family development and support; staff training and development; therapeutic interventions with children. We meet with teachers weekly to discuss classroom issues and to facilitate development of an understanding of each child in the classroom. When a child needs support with an area of development, first, the weekly classroom study team will discuss the child in order to get a fuller understanding of the issues. Then, the team develops a classroom intervention plan. After the implementation of this plan, or in some cases, simultaneous with the plan, a child may be referred for therapeutic playgroup. Parents are encouraged to participate at all levels of discussion, and required to give consent for their child's participation in a play group.

Family development includes a weekly parent support group, with dinner and childcare provided. We also host a monthly Family Fun Night with the goals of increasing playtime of parents with their children, and decreasing the social isolation that plagues these communities. Staff is help to build relationships with parents to foster collaboration in the development of the child.

Our consultants also collaborate with the site directors on environmental, staff and child issues. In addition, staff develops other projects in collaboration with the members of the individual site. For example, at Bret Harte last year, Dr. Trotter developed a Parent Participation Project, resulting in a significant increase in parental presence at the school. At The Burnett Child Development Center, Mike Scott, LCSW, worked with the C-PAC group on their successful bid for funds to run the Family Fun Night.

SFCP has been granted long term approval as a provider of these services, though each year, the programs are contingent on the funding.

SFCP, 2340 Jackson Street, 4th Floor, San Francisco, CA 94115
tel: 415-563-5815 ¦ fax: 415-563-8406
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