Our-hard-at-work Executive Director with the inspiration for her work.

The Board of Directors could not be more pleased to announce the hiring of Erin Henderson as the Executive Director of the Association for Infant Mental Health Hawaii (AIMH HI). Erin embodies both the skills and presence that AIMH HI values in our work. Erin often reminds us that “How you are is as important as what you do”, wise words from one of the mothers of the infant mental health profession, Jeree Pawl.

AIMH HI knows Erin well as she has been on our Board of Directors since 2016 and is one of our two Endorsed clinical mentors developing and running our Promising Minds Fellows Program in partnership with the Hawaii Community Foundation. Erin comes to us with not only deep clinical experience in infant and early childhood mental health, but also excellent organizational and administrative skills.

Please help us welcome Erin, and join with us in the achievement of our agency mission:

“In Hawai‘i the early years are celebrated and revered, first relationships are nurtured, and infant and early childhood mental health is everyone’s kuleana.”

Erin’s Background

Erin was born to Aaron and Iris Henderson while they were living on the island of Maui, and she grew up in Kunia, Oʻahu. She is the third of four children – with one sister and two brothers. Erin is the proud mama of a one-and-a-half-year-old boy. While there are never enough hours in the day, Erin cherishes every moment she gets to be in the service of babies and their caregivers, and she especially cherishes the moments she sees her husband grow as a father every day.

Erin has a degree in History and Psychology, and she initially wanted to be a high school teacher.  When she returned home to Hawaii from college, she began to work with children with special needs. After completing her Masters in Social Work, she became an intern at Keiki O Ka ʻĀina Family Learning Centers, where she spent time working with children impacted by the incarceration of their parents. Through that work, Erin was able to work in the prisons, helping inmates become the best parents they could. She then transferred to the Healthy Marriages program and, shortly thereafter, was trained as an Attachment and Biobehavioral Catch-Up Parent Coach (ABC). For the next few years, she dedicated her career to learning clinical skills, developing a deep love for attachment theory, and enhancing the relationships of many babies and their caregivers. Erin then became a child development specialist in home visiting programs, serving families with children, prenatal through age 5. During that time, Erin also trained as a Child/Parent Psychotherapist, obtained National Endorsement as an Infant Mental Health Mentor – Clinical, and completed her licensure for LCSW.  She currently sits on the Early Learning Board, the governing board of the Executive Office on Early Learning, as its new home visiting representative.