Certificate in Infant & Early Childhood Mental Health Consultation

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The Certificate in Infant & Early Childhood Mental Health Consultation (IECMHC) provides advanced training for mental health clinicians in the specialized role of consulting in early childhood settings. You’ll learn approaches to promote mental health in the early childhood years and how the role of consultant is unique from other mental health clinician roles, as well as how consultation aims to build the capacity of early childhood professionals, settings, and systems to support young children’s mental health.

You’ll engage with national experts in the field of IECMHC and instructors from Georgetown University’s Center for Child and Human Development, home of the Center of Excellence in Infant and Early Childhood Mental Health Consultation. All faculty have created, implemented, and guided national IECMHC programs. You’ll leave the program equipped with the knowledge needed to effectively support well-being for young children, families, and professionals in early childhood settings in the consultant role. You will also develop a network in the field to promote and support your professional development.

Upon successful completion of the certificate, you will be able to:

• Identify infant and early childhood mental health consultation frameworks and theories of change and how they are different from one-on-one therapy; describe the history of infant and early childhood mental health consultation and why it is needed.
• Describe the current evidence base for infant and early childhood mental health consultation, childhood developmental milestones, and developmentally appropriate behavior.
• Recognize areas of consultation focus at the child, classroom, and programmatic levels.
• Recognize how to document consultation work so it can be quantified and develop a plan for sharing it with others, how assessment is integrated into and supported by consultation work, and develop an assessment plan.
• Describe how culture (beliefs, values, attitudes, biases, and experiences), equity, and environment shape relationships and behaviors, and how they influence settings and communities in important and meaningful ways.
• Identify supervision requirements for infant and early childhood mental health consultation beyond what is required for clinical licensure and describe approaches to supervision utilized in infant and early childhood mental health consultation.

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