The People

Who takes the courses, and who offers them.

Who We Train

The Brazelton Touchpoints Regional Training Site at The Unterberg Children’s Hospital at Monmouth Medical Center offers innovative training opportunities for professionals devoted to the care of young children and their parents. The program offerings are flexible and designed to meet the varied needs of healthcare, childcare, educators and social service professionals. Providers at all levels are challenged to change their paradigm of care. All Pediatric residents at Monmouth Medical Center receive this training as part of their educational program, with regular opportunities for ongoing reflective supervision in their building relationships with their families and the development of their professional skills. To date, more than 250 people have gone through the intensive two-day course at Monmouth, including 95 Pediatric residents, 19 Pediatric faculty members, 84 nurses, and 75 people from a variety of other departments and agencies. The trainings provide a combination of a theoretical framework and a set of skills that can be incorporated into individual practices, across institutions, and at a community level. Training options include the two-day complete individual training, shorter overview presentations about the Touchpoints approach, and reflective supervision sessions for small groups actively implementing the Touchpoints approach.

The Brazelton Touchpoints Faculty at The Unterberg Children’s Hospital

Nancy Deacon, DO, Director

Dr. Deacon has been a member of the teaching faculty at The Unterberg Children's Hospital at Monmouth Medical Center for the past 20 years, and has served as a consultant to 180 Turning Lives Around, a program for families affected by domestic violence. She established the Brazelton Touchpoints Regional Training Site at Monmouth in 2004, and has served ever since as the Site Director. She has served on national committees for and has presented at the Touchpoints National Forum in Boston. She is the founder of Shore Touch Pediatrics, LLC, a practice organized around and built on the principles of the Touchpoints approach to pediatric care.

Charles Katz, PhD

Dr. Katz is a PhD psychologist with more than thirty years' experience working with families and children as the Coordinator of Pediatric Psychology at The Unterberg Children's Hospital at Monmouth Medical Center. He has received postgraduate training at the Ackerman Institute, Harvard, and at the Brazelton Institute in Boston. In addition to his work with Touchpoints, he conducts regular psychosocial teaching rounds at Monmouth, is a consultant to the Valerie Fund and other Pediatric Subspecialty programs at Monmouth, and has conducted numerous workshops and special programs both locally and nationally.

Kirby Rekedal, MD

Dr. Rekedal has been a neonatologist at The Unterberg Children's Hospital at Monmouth Medical Center for the last 30 years. He served as Section Chief for ten years, as acting Department Chair for one year, and as Pediatric Residency Program Director for five years. In addition to his work with Touchpoints, he sits on numerous committees and works with multiple resident research projects. He also holds a graduate degree in philosophy and conducts regular seminars in biomedical ethics.

Janice Lichtenberger, MD

Dr. Lichtenberger has been a member of the faculty at the Unterberg Children’s Hospital since 2010. She currently serves as The Associate Program Director of the Pediatrics Residency Program and the Medical Director of the Newborn Nursery. She is actively involved in pediatric dental and asthma initiatives in the State of New Jersey. She spends most days as the Attending Preceptor for the residents in the Newborn Nursery. She is a member of many hospital committees and joined the Touchpoints team in 2013.

Disclosure

Neither Dr. Deacon, Dr. Katz, Dr. Rekedal, Dr. Lichtenberger, nor MMC have any significant financial interest or relationship with any manufacturer of any commercial products discussed in these educational presentations.