Infant and Early Childhood Mental Health Consultation (IECMHC) is an evidence-based, relationship-led and prevention-based intervention that pairs a mental health consultant with adults who work with infants and young children in different settings. IECMHC changes how the adults around a child read the child's behavior and respond to it.
Consultation helps children and the adults who serve them in five settings.
In classrooms, consultation helps teachers respond to behavior, reduce expulsions, and keep children enrolled.
Consultation strengthens home visitors' work with parents and infants and supports the earliest relationships.
Consultation supports early intervention providers around developmental and social and emotional concerns.
Consultation supports the adults caring for children who have experienced trauma and disruption.
Families already come to the pediatric visit. Consultation brings mental health support into it.
Partner with us on research to expand the evidence base for IECMHC.
IECMHC is a prevention-based approach. It pairs a mental health consultant with the adults who work with infants and young children: in child care, preschool, home visiting, early intervention, and the home. Consultation isn't about fixing kids, and it isn't therapy. It helps caregivers support children's healthy social and emotional growth.
The Association of Maternal and Child Health Programs (AMCHP) recognizes IECMHC as a best practice.
Consultants are licensed or license-eligible, or come from an early childhood education background with specialized IECMH training. They know child development, the effects of stress and trauma on families, why attachment matters for young children, and how adult mental health shapes a growing child.
Rather than "fixing" the child, consultation builds the capacity of the adult to respond to children's behaviors in ways that promote social-emotional development in the child, as well as self-efficacy and resilience for the provider.
IECMHC has been shown to improve children’s social skills and emotional functioning, promote healthy relationships, reduce challenging behaviors, reduce the number of suspensions and expulsions, improve classroom quality, and reduce provider stress, burnout, and turnover.
Consultation starts with one relationship and widens from there. Choose a level to see the same reflective stance reach one child, a whole classroom, or an entire program.
Level one
A specific child has the team concerned. The consultant helps the adults understand what the behavior is communicating, then build one shared plan.
Level two
The consultant works with the whole room rather than one child. Together, they change the practices and routines every child in the room meets.
Level three
The consultant works alongside leaders on the policies, funding, and workforce that decide whether consultation lasts.
The Pyramid Model is a tiered framework of practices. Consultation isn't a competing framework. It strengthens every tier, and consultants fluent in both are more effective.
Treatment works with the child directly. Consultation builds up the capacity of the adults around the child, reducing challenging behaviors and staff turnover.
Coaching builds teaching technique. Consultation adds the mental health and relational layer underneath it.
Reflective supervision helps you look back and process your experience. Consultation contains this aspect, but also helps you look forward at how you'll respond to similar situations in the future.
Infant and early childhood mental health consultation is a service, while endorsement is a credential. They share many competencies and fit together.
The child is not the problem, and the adult in the room is the intervention. Young children don't change because we treat them. They change because we change how they see, respond to, and understand their behavior. The Center of Excellence's mission is to maximize the reach and impact of IECMH consultation through:
September 2019 to April 2024
The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) funded the Center. Georgetown University ran it with Tulane University and the Children's Equity Project at Arizona State University.
May 2024 to July 2026
Georgetown University kept the Center running to maintain and grow the field.
Since August 2026
Attunify, Inc. now funds and runs the Center. Georgetown Thrive Center faculty give it support and guidance.
Attunify is an IECMHC workforce development company built at Georgetown University's Thrive Center. Shai Idelson and Dr. Neal Horen lead it and co-own it with Georgetown University. Attunify's revenue comes from training the IECMHC workforce, and that revenue funds the Center.
Neal M. Horen, PhDDirector, Infant, Early Childhood, and Relational Health, Phyllis R. Magrab Endowed Chair in Pediatrics, Thrive Center, Georgetown University; Chief Clinical Officer, Attunify.
Shai IdelsonCEO, Attunify; Innovation Director, Thrive Center, Georgetown University.
Christine VidaHead of Operations, Attunify.
Julia SaylesLMHC, IECMH-EAssistant Professor, Georgetown University. Pyramid Model national consultant
Lauren RabinovitzProject Director, IECMHC Programs. Lead instructor
Jamie KnottLCPC, PMH-CInfant and Early Childhood Mental Health Consultant
San Juanita GuerraMA, LPC-SInfant and Early Childhood Mental Health Consultant
Sunny ChoLMFT, IFECMHSInfant and Early Childhood Mental Health Consultant
Trista VonadaLCSWInfant and Early Childhood Mental Health Consultant39 states and DC have a profile. 11 states aren't in the scan yet, so you can't choose them: Idaho, Indiana, Iowa, Kentucky, Mississippi, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Dakota, Utah, Virginia, West Virginia.39 states and DC have a profile. 11 states aren't in the scan yet: Idaho, Indiana, Iowa, Kentucky, Mississippi, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Dakota, Utah, Virginia, West Virginia.
We conducted a national scan on the state of consultation in early 2026. View the results for your state.
