Dr. Grace Manning-Orenstein has a PhD in clinical psychology and is a licensed Marriage and Family Therapist and a certified Montessori teacher at a school she founded in 1972, Montessori Children’s Community. She holds copyrights on a series of courses accredited for early childhood education professionals, and she formerly taught the course “Early Childhood Mental Health: Center-Based Early Intervention” at Alliant International University. In 1996 she founded The Link to Children (TLC) to provide on-site counseling services to children and parents, and consultation to teachers at child development centers in Alameda County.

There are more than 11 million children in the United States who spend part of each day in professional care. With more than 64 percent of all new mothers heading back to work only a few months after giving birth, 1 in 4 children will be cared for by others. Building Blocks for Reflective Communication is for those “others”—the caring but underpaid, devoted yet unevenly skilled workers who go to work each day to face executives who stand less than three feet tall and occasionally resolve conflicts with their teeth.

The emotionally charged nature of the environment in which these early care and education professionals work affects all involved: the children, of course, but also parents, fellow teachers, colleagues, bosses, and the worker herself. Communication skills are key to the mental and physical health of staff relationships. Straightforward and accessible, Building Blocks for Reflective Communication raises the bar towards greater professionalism and workplace quality for those who have chosen to dedicate their lives to the health and well-being of children.