Center of Excellence for Infant and Early Childhood Mental Health Consultation, part of Georgetown University’s Thrive Center

The home for your profession and community

Find the resources, guidance, and support you need to build your career as an infant and early childhood mental health (IECMH) consultant.

Introduction to consultation

Start with the fundamentals: what consultation is and isn't, the national competencies that define the work, and the consultative stance at its center. It's all free, and it all comes from the source.

  • Foundational Modules

    The free, self-paced introduction to the consultation practice.

    Start free

  • The consultative stance

    The consultative stance is the method at the center of the work. This interactive walkthrough covers all four modules and ends with a quiz.

    Open the interactive module

  • The national IECMHC competencies

    Walk through the eight domains that define what a competent consultant knows and does, then check yourself with a quiz.

    See the Competencies

Become a consultant

You don't need one specific degree to do this work. Consultants come from early childhood, social work, psychology, counseling, special education, and public health. What unites them is a set of competencies you can learn and a practical path to learn them.

  • Workforce resources

    See role definitions, qualifications by state, and the pathways into the work.

    Explore workforce

  • The virtual community

    Meet peers, find the member map, and join the listserv. Nobody becomes a consultant alone.

    See News & Events

Assess your IECMHC knowledge

Answer 3 quick questions to check what you already know. Nothing is saved.

Question 1 of 3

IECMHC is best described as:

  • A relationship-based intervention that builds the skill of the adults around a child (the answer)

  • Therapy delivered to a child inside the classroom

  • A screening tool for identifying children who need a referral

  • A curriculum a program buys and teaches

 Consultation works through the adults. The consultant builds a reflective, trusting relationship with an educator or caregiver, and that adult reads the child's behavior differently and responds with more skill.

In consultation, who does the consultant work with most directly?

  • The child

  • The adults who care for the child (the answer)

  • The family alone

  • The state agency that funds the program

 The chain runs consultant, then educator, then child. Change what the adult can do, and every setting that adult touches changes with them.

How does consultation relate to the Pyramid Model?

  • It replaces the Pyramid Model

  • It's a different name for the Pyramid Model

  • It complements the Pyramid Model (the answer)

  • The two can't be used in the same program

 Consultation complements the Pyramid Model and never supersedes it. Programs use both, and consultation supports the adults doing the Pyramid Model work.

You answered 0 of 3 correctly.

Take the Self-Assessment

Become a Center of Excellence and Attunify certified consultant

Our Practical Certificate in IECMHC prepares candidates from various educational and professional backgrounds to deliver effective consultation.

  • 4-month training phasewith 90-minute live weekly sessions and about 2 hours a week of self-paced work
  • 8-month supervision phasewith 60-minute group supervision led by a licensed clinician
  • 100% virtual
See the Practical Certificate

Where the founding cohort came from

Early childhood education
56%
Child development and family studies
29%
Social work
18%
Psychology
15%
Special education
14%
Counseling
12%
257 of the 261 people in our founding cohort completed intake. They could pick more than one field, so the numbers overlap.
76%
are without a mental health background
2-in-3
joined to apply IECMHC skills to their existing roles
91%
use IECMHC skills within 2 months of starting the program
97%
of participants would recommend the program to colleagues

Grow as a consultant

You're doing the work. Growth now means two things: deepening the practice and letting the work find you. Programs across the country are searching for qualified consultants in their state and can't find them.

  • TTYC Behavior Toolkit

    Use the Turtle Technique, visual strategies, and routines. This classroom kit covers the behaviors behind most referrals.

    Open toolkit

  • Equity

    Find the equity toolkit, the webinar seasons, and the Beyond the 101 series. Culturally responsive consultation is competent consultation.

    Open equity

  • Observation Toolkit

    Structured observation instruments for classroom and home visits.

    Open the toolkit

Grow as a professional and connect with the field

Join sessions, webinars, and gatherings from across the field, and browse everything we've recorded. This is where consultants sharpen the work and find their people.

Browse the events library

Supervise and lead

Some consultants stay in the room. Some supervise other consultants, and some build the rooms. When you're ready to hold reflective supervision, design systems, and run them, Georgetown trains that too.

  • Workforce resources

    Role definitions, MOUs, hiring guidance, and the workforce landscape.

    Explore workforce

  • Competencies and crosswalk

    The national standards and the endorsement crosswalk.

    Open the standards

The Leadership Certificate in IECMHC

It's a 9-month online program from Georgetown. You'll learn to design, lead, and evaluate consultation systems: workforce, financing, policy, and the infrastructure that makes consultation last.

9
months online
$6,000
tuition
10
CEUs
Aug 1
Applications close
Explore the Leadership Certificate