Each year in Australia 100,000 children and young people develop emotional problems and at any time about 1 million young people are seriously effected by emotional problems. In many of these cases symptoms persist and progress to become long term difficulties often in the form of mental illness. The Benevolent Society's Early Intervention programs contribute to the reduction of mental health problems by identifying high risk families antenatally or in their child's first year and supporting these parents to nurture and protect their children.

The focus of the early intervention programs' multidisciplinary staff is on helping parents understand a) the important issues, faced by all family members, at each of their child's developmental stages, and b) what may be impacting on each parents particular ability to care for their child. The parent child relationship is supported and enhanced in the present alleviating the need to repair it later in the child's life and facilitating the child's present and therefore future mental health.

This paper will explore the importance of the earliest relationships to later psychological health and discuss the work of the Benevolent Society's early intervention programs, particularly how they facilitate secure attachments as an important buffer against emotional distress and later mental health issues.