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

Three roles: a consultant and two kinds of coach

The Pyramid Model uses two kinds of coaching. A program implementation coach works with the whole program. A practice-based coach works with individual practitioners. This part compares the three roles: who they are, what they do and where, and how each is supported.

  • IECMH consultant

    Provides a prevention-based, indirect service. The consultant builds the capacity of families and professionals to support and sustain the healthy social and emotional development of infants and young children.

    Consultants work across child-serving systems, including early care and education, home visiting, early intervention, primary care, and child welfare.

  • Program implementation coach

    Coaches the program as a whole on putting the Pyramid Model in place program-wide.

    The focus is the program leadership team. The coach helps the team build and sustain the infrastructure that practitioners need to use Pyramid Model practices.

  • Practice-based coach

    Guides an individual practitioner to use Pyramid Model practices with fidelity, within a collaborative coaching partnership.

    Practice-based coaching is an empirically based approach with 3 components:

    • shared goals and action planning
    • focused observation
    • reflection and feedback

All three roles span the full service continuum: promotion, prevention, and intervention.

Background and qualifications

AttributeIECMH consultantProgram implementation coachPractice-based coach
Theoretical foundationsInfant and adult mental health, family systems, and implementation scienceEducation and implementation scienceEducation, implementation science, and the science of human behavior
Qualifications
  • A master's degree in a mental health field, at minimum. A license is preferred.
  • Consultation training or experience across early childhood systems is preferred.
  • Follows the IECMHC competencies and uses the consultative stance.
  • A master's degree in early childhood education, special education, or mental health is preferred.
  • Expertise in the Pyramid Model framework and practices, data systems, practice-based coaching, and implementation science.
  • Content knowledge and skills in the Pyramid Model practices that fit the type of program.
  • Knowledge and skills in observation, performance feedback, and data-informed decision-making.

The crosswalk was published in 2021. Consultant qualifications vary by state, and several states now open the consultant role to early childhood professionals with specialized IECMH training.

Source: Crosswalk of Infant Early Childhood Mental Health Consultation and Pyramid Model Coaching, National Center for Pyramid Model Innovations and Center of Excellence for IECMHC, 2021. Download the Crosswalk

Where to go next

Programs get more from the Pyramid Model when an IECMH consultant is on the team. The Practical Certificate in IECMHC builds that capacity. The people who wrote the national competencies teach it.

Explore the Practical CertificateDownload the full document