Michael Trout completed both his undergraduate studies in philosophy and his graduate studies in psychology in Michigan. He completed his specialized training in infant psychiatry at the Child Development Project, University of Michigan School of Medicine, under Prof. Selma Fraiberg.
In the mental health field since 1968, and in private practice since 1979, Mr. Trout directs an institute engaged in research, clinical practice and clinical training related to problems of attachment. He was the founding president of the Michigan Association for Infant Mental Health and the International Association for Infant Mental Health, was on the charter Editorial Board of the Infant Mental Health Journal, served as Vice-President for the United States for the World Association for Infant Mental Health, and served on the Professional Advisory Council, the Board of Directors and as Editor of the Newsletter for APPPAH–Association of Prenatal and Perinatal Psychology and Health.
In addition to publishing a number of book chapters and journal articles–as well as the 2005 book, co-authored with a foster/adopt mother, The Jonathon Letters, and the 2008 Baby Verses: The Narrative Poetry of Infants and Toddlers–Mr. Trout has produced 16 documentary films that are in use in universities and clinics around the world, including five films on the unique perspective of babies on divorce, adoption, loss, domestic violence and parental incarceration. His meditation CD for foster and adoptive parents is entitled The Hope-Filled Parent. He co-authored See Me as A Person: Creating Therapeutic Relationships with Patients and their families, with Mary Koloroutis. His final book, This Hallowed Ground: Four Decades in Infant Mental Health, was published as an audiobook in 2019; the print edition will be released by Cambridge Scholars in late 2021. Mr. Trout won the Selma Fraiberg Award in 1984, for “…significant contributions to the needs of infants and their families”, and a Lifetime Achievement Award by ATTACh, “for his decades of work with children of loss and trauma”.
The most important part of Mr. Trout’s work was always in the quiet private practice where he saw families and children of all ages every week. After 46 years, he retired in the summer of 2014.