ABOUT ZERO TO THRIVE
Zero to Thrive is a multi-disciplinary center housed within the Department of Psychiatry at Michigan Medicine and is a leader in perinatal and infant and early childhood mental health, with a focus on families exposed to adversity. It is built on the premise that the period from pregnancy through early childhood is an especially sensitive time for mitigating the multi-generational effects of inequity, trauma, and adversity and promoting mental health.
We believe that providing families, from the start, with cutting-edge treatment and tools needed to sustain nurturing, supportive relationships will serve as a protective buffer that allows families to thrive now and into the next generation.
Vision
We envision a time when all families, from the start, will have the support needed to sustain nurturing relationships, allowing families to thrive now and into the next generation.
Mission
To spark robust scientific discoveries, quality training and vibrant cross-sector initiatives that create breakthrough solutions to transform the well-being and resilience of families from conception to early childhood with impacts for generations to come.
Strategic Priorities
Widely disseminate Zero to Thrive’s research and evidence-based programs on infant, child and perinatal mental health.
Design, evaluate, and/or refine approaches to support the well-being and resilience of families, responding to the unique needs of young children and their caregivers including mothers, fathers, birth and foster parents; child welfare and court team staff; health care providers; and early childhood educators.
Strengthen and grow the perinatal, infant and early childhood behavioral health workforce.
Work to ensure culturally responsive, community-engaged, and inclusive practices across Zero to Thrive’s research, programs, services, and policies.
ZERO TO THRIVE
Guiding Principles
Equity and justice are at the core of our work.
We believe in the inherent power and wisdom of families.
We embody a spirit of reciprocity.
We are committed to the science of early relational health.
We believe that people can build resilience.
Our work has a two-generation focus and impacts multiple generations.
We define early childhood as a continuum beginning with the sensitive periods of prenatal, childbirth and postpartum through 6 years of age.
We understand and support the many and diverse types of families.
We recognize and respect that pregnant, birthing, postpartum, and parenting people have a range of gender identities, and do not always identify as “women/men” or “mothers/fathers.”
Our Impact
Zero to Thrive influences health and resilience for pregnant women, parents, and young children through community service, clinical services, research, and training. We have built effective, multi-layered, two-generation programs, tailored for mothers, fathers, and early childhood educators, that can transform the lives of children and families living with adversity, and strengthen the long-term health and resilience of communities. Our destination perinatal and infant and early childhood clinics deliver evidence-based assessment and treatment services to parents, infants and young children. Our multidisciplinary faculty conduct ground-breaking research on the experiences of living with adversity and trauma and develop solutions that mitigate those experiences, examining the bio-psycho-social pathways for the intergenerational transmission of risk and resilience. Our faculty and staff train providers regionally, nationally, and internationally in trauma-specific, relationally-focused mental health treatment. The science behind this work is strong, and our next step is clear: spread the impact of Zero To Thrive throughout southeastern Michigan, rural Michigan, and nationally.