Early Connections Institute (ECI) is a specialized program aimed at promoting early relationships and mental health for women and young children.
03/30/2026
Sometimes what looks like “bad behavior” is actually a child feeling overwhelmed, dysregulated, or unsure how to express what they need💛
This Parent-Child Wellness Workshop is designed to help you understand what’s really going on beneath the surface and give you tools that actually work in real life, not just in theory.
We’ll walk through how to respond with confidence, support emotional regulation, and build a stronger connection with your child without constant frustration.
If you’ve been feeling stuck or unsure what to do next, this is for you!
Workshops take place from 2:00 to 3:15 pm at the ECI Office in Brighton, MI. To reserve your spot visit EarlyConnectionsInstitute.com or link in bio🔗
03/23/2026
Behavior is communication🗣️ Especially in kids with ADHD…
What looks like hyperactivity, inattention, or defiance
is often something deeper:
👉Overwhelm
👉Anxiety
👉Big feelings with nowhere to go
When we shift from trying to control behavior➡️ to understanding what it’s communicating…Everything changes.
Your child isn’t trying to give you a hard time.
They’re having a hard time.
Our upcoming workshop is for parents who want a different lens… One rooted in connection, emotional understanding, and real regulation.
And for kids? A space to explore their feelings through play, art, and storytelling, so they can begin to feel safe in their own minds and bodies.💛
📆Saturday, April 11
⏰2:00 PM to 3:15 PM
📍ECI Office, Brighton, MI.
Save your spot: EarlyConntectionsInstitute.com
03/20/2026
Big behaviors often come from big feelings.
Tantrums, meltdowns, withdrawal — these are a child’s way of saying “something’s too much.”
At ECI, we help children (and parents) make sense of these moments with compassion and tools for emotional regulation.
Let’s shift from “what’s wrong with you?” to “what’s happening within you?” 💛
📞Call us at: 810-845-2133
🌐Visit: earlyconnectionsinstitute.com
💻Virtual & in-person appointments available
03/16/2026
Our Parent Child Wellness Workshops are designed to support families in navigating common challenges with greater understanding, connection, and confidence.💛
Each workshop offers practical tools, thoughtful discussion, and guided activities that help parents and children better understand emotions, communication, and behavior.
April 11
💛Reframing ADHD with Compassion:
A parent child workshop exploring hyperactivity and inattention through emotional awareness, creativity, and connection.
May 9
💛Parenting After Divorce (Adults Only):
Learn practical tools to reduce conflict, improve communication, and create greater stability for children across two homes.
June 13
💛Screen Time Balance and Connection:
Families will explore healthy technology habits while strengthening trust, boundaries, and connection at home.
Workshops take place from 2:00 to 3:15 pm at the ECI Office in Brighton, MI.
To reserve your spot visit EarlyConnectionsInstitute.com or link in bio🔗
03/12/2026
Parent + Child Emotional Growth Workshop this weekend💛
📆Saturday March 14, 2026
⏰2:00 to 3:15 pm
📍ECI Office: Brighton, Michigan
This interactive workshop invites parents and children to explore sadness and guilt as important emotions that help us grow and connect.
Sadness is often something children are told to push away. But when we allow children to feel sadness, we teach them how to heal.
Together families will practice naming emotions, building empathy, and strengthening trust.
Join us for a meaningful afternoon of connection and emotional growth.
Register at: EarlyConnectionsInstitute.com
03/07/2026
If you are a new mom or expecting, there are a few things you deserve to hear✨
You are not supposed to have everything figured out.
It is okay if some days feel overwhelming.
You deserve support too.
Motherhood is a huge transition, and you should not have to navigate it alone.
Our Nurturing New Mothers Support Group is a space for pregnant and new moms to connect, talk honestly, and feel supported by others going through the same stage of life.
Starting March 10
Tuesdays 6:15 to 7:30 PM
Brighton, M, ECI office
Babies in arms welcome💛First session is free.
Learn more at EarlyConnectionsInstitute.com
02/26/2026
Motherhood is beautiful and overwhelming.
Whether you are preparing for your baby or adjusting to life with a newborn, you do not have to navigate this season alone.
Nurturing New Mothers is a 6 week in person support group for pregnant and new mothers who are looking for connection, emotional support, and practical tools for early motherhood. Babies in arms are always welcome.
Mothers who complete all 6 weeks will receive a curated nourish kit featuring items from local businesses✨
📍 Early Connections Institute, Brighton, MI
🗓 Tuesdays beginning March 10
⏰ 6:15 to 7:30 PM
🌿 First session is free
Motherhood is not meant to be done alone.
Register through the link in our bio.
02/09/2026
When anger shows up, it can feel overwhelming for both kids and parents.
This parent child wellness workshop supports families in understanding anger and building safe ways to express big emotions with connection and care.
📍 In person workshop: At ECI, Brighton, Michigan.
🗓 Saturday, February 21
⏰ 2:00 to 3:15 PM
Big feelings need safe places.
👉 Register at EarlyConnectionsInstitute.com
01/28/2026
Your calm is your child’s container.💛
Babies and young children cannot yet hold their own big emotions. Fear, frustration, and overwhelm feel too intense to manage alone, so they pass those feelings to us.
This is what psychoanalyst Wilfred Bion called containment.
A containing parent does not panic, shut down, or escalate. They receive the child’s emotional storm, make sense of it inside themselves, and offer it back in a calmer, more organized way. Over time, the child learns:
My feelings make sense.
Big emotions will not break me.
I can hold what I feel.
But here is the part we do not talk about enough. Parents need containment too.
Pregnancy and early motherhood bring massive emotional, physical, and identity shifts. A mother’s nervous system is working overtime while also being asked to regulate another human being. Without support, this can feel isolating and overwhelming.
This is why connection matters.
Our Nurturing New Mothers Support Group is a 6 week supportive space for pregnant and new mothers to be held, supported, and understood while navigating the transition into motherhood. This group offers connection, emotional support, and practical tools so mothers are not carrying everything alone.💛
Because when mothers are supported, they are better able to support their children.
Nurturing New Mothers Support Group…
📆Tuesdays from 6:15 to 7:30 pm beginning March 10th
📍Early Connections Institute office in Brighton, Michigan
🔗Register through the link in our bio or at EarlyConnectionsInstitute.com
01/20/2026
Anger is often a secondary feeling, covering deeper, more vulnerable emotions underneath.💛
For children, anger may be protecting feelings like sadness, fear, frustration, loneliness, disappointment, embarrassment, or overwhelm. When we slow down and get curious about what is beneath the anger, we help children feel seen rather than corrected.
Teaching kids to name these underlying emotions builds emotional awareness, supports regulation, and strengthens connection with their caregivers.
Join us for our Parent Child Wellness Workshop: Anger + Agression
📆Saturday February 21
⏱️2:00 to 3:15 pm
📍ECI Office in Brighton
This interactive wellness workshop helps children and caregivers learn how to respond to anger with understanding, connection, and skill building.
Register online at Earlyconnectionsinstitute.com
01/16/2026
Anger and aggression in children are often misunderstood. They are not signs of a bad child or poor parenting. They are signals that a child’s nervous system is overwhelmed and asking for support.💛
When children do not yet have the words or skills to express big feelings, their bodies speak for them. Yelling, hitting, shutting down, or explosive reactions are clues that something needs attention, not punishment.
When adults stay calm, curious, and connected, children learn that their feelings are safe and manageable. Over time, this builds emotional regulation, trust, and resilience.
Big feelings are not the problem. Feeling alone with them is.
Join us for a parent-child wellness workshop focused on understanding anger, building safe expression, and strengthening connection.
📆Saturday February 21st 2026
⏱️2:00 to 3:15 pm
📍ECI Office Brighton MI
📝 Register at EarlyConnectionsInstitute.com
01/13/2026
Mothers who complete our 6-week Nurturing New Mothers Support Group at Early Connections Institute receive a Nourish Kit, made possible through partnerships with local businesses.💛
We’re grateful to , one of our Nourish Kit partners, for helping us support mothers during pregnancy and early motherhood!
📆Next group begins March 10th
⏱️Tuesdays, 6:15 to 7:30 PM
🤍 Babies in arms always welcome
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Early Connections Institute (ECI) is a specialized program aimed at promoting early relationships and mental health for women, infants and young children. ECI offers therapeutic services for pregnant mothers as well as mothers with children ages birth to 6 years. This innovative program incorporates a variety of treatment modalities informed by infant mental health principles and developmental psychology. These relationship based practices are intended to treat perinatal mood disorders and to promote relational health for moms and their babies. At ECI we know that mental health truly starts during pregnancy and at birth which is why our unique program employs a dyadic approach keeping the mother-child relationship at the center of treatment. This is done by promoting mental health and well-being for parents so they can provide the kind of responsive caregiving that will support their infant/young child’s social emotional development. The science is clear: sensitive and consistent early relationships serve as one of the best predictors for positive outcomes in childhood, adolescence and adulthood. At ECI we are devoted to creating strong foundations for mothers, families and young children by offering a wide array of flexible treatment options designed to grow with families.
ECI TREATMENT OPTIONS:
Prenatal Mental Health Services
Treatment of Perinatal Mood & Anxiety Disorders (PMADs)
Transition and adjustment to pregnancy
Preparation for entering motherhood
Childbearing losses
Infertility Struggles
Post-Partum Mental Health Services
Support for difficult labor & delivery, birth trauma as well as treatment and screening for PMADs etc
Support with role transition for mothers, fathers and couples
Referrals for layers of support (i.e. breastfeeding support, medication management if needed etc.)
Infant or Pregnancy loss
Infant Mental Health Informed Services (Birth to 3 years)
Early bonding and attachment concerns
Developmental screenings/ assessments
Developmental guidance
Therapy for parents of young children with prior history of unresolved grief, loss, separations and/or trauma
Early Childhood Relational Services (4-6 years)
Mental, emotional and/or behavioral concerns
Parent-child relational therapy and play therapy
Families needing support with big life changes (i.e. traumatic life events, divorce, grief, loss, adoption, moves etc.)
