Find the tool for your IECMHC needs
Our library holds 250+ free resources on IECMHC research and practice. Browse them below, or send us a tool, presentation, event, or paper to add.
Browse the library
Everything is free, and you don't need an account.
HandoutUsing Reflection to Nurture Relationships with Children, Families, and StaffIn partnership with Illuminate Colorado and the University of California, San Francisco’s Child Trauma Research Program, the Thrive Center developed a set of handouts tailored for early care and education (ECE) settings. These handouts, available in English and Spanish, explore substance use and childhood trauma, and how ECE professionals can support the children and families they serve who are affected by these challenges. IECMH Consultants can share these short, colorful resources with their consultees to address these sensitive topics in an accessible, compassionate way. This specific handout explains how to use reflection to develop relationships with children, families, and staff.Using Reflection to Nurture Relationships with Children, Families, and Staff (Spanish) Webinars and eventsWebinar: Centering Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander Children and Families to Combat Racial Bias and Promote Connection and Belonging in IECMHCThis is the third in the series of resources to support infant and early childhood mental health consultants and supervisors to strengthen cultural responsiveness in IECMHC for children and families in Tribal, African American, Latine, and Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander communities (AANHPI). This third resource focuses on the importance of combating anti-AANHPI bias and promoting connection & belonging for IECMH consultants, supervisors, and leaders working with AANHPI children, families, and communities. Webinars and eventsWebinar: Centering Latin American children, families, and communities through an anti-racist, trauma-informed, and culturally-responsive lens in IECMHCThis is the second in the series of resources to support infant and early childhood mental health consultants and supervisors to strengthen cultural responsiveness in IECMHC for children and families in Tribal, African American, Latin American, and Asian American and Pacific Islander communities. This resource focuses on the importance of anti-racist, trauma-informed, and culturally-responsive practices for IECMH consultants, supervisors, and leaders working with Latin American children, families, and communities. Webinars and eventsWebinar: Countering Bias and Promoting Black Joy in IECMHCThis webinar highlights strength-based strategies to support IECMH consultants and programs to create space for Black families to reclaim a sense of joy amid racial uprisings, a global pandemic, and increasing socioeconomic challenges. It provides a preview of the April 2023 Center of Excellence document: "Promoting Black Joy and Countering Bias through Infant and Early Childhood Consultation." This webinar highlights promising practices, aligned with the Revised IECMHC Competencies, that disrupt bias and foster joy for Black children to reduce disparities and improve child outcomes. Webinars and eventsWebinar: Creating Anti-Racist SpacesNow, more than ever it is important to address issues of race and bias in early childhood settings. Children notice race at a very early age and can begin to categorize people according to skin color. This webinar presents strategies for creating an anti-racist environment to promote the development of healthy racial identities. Webinars and eventsWebinar: Equity in IECMHC: Looking back, looking forwardThis webinar kicked off a new Equity in IECMHC webinar series, which the CoE also offered in 2020 and 2021. This event featured a panelist of practitioners who are meaningfully advancing the work of equity in IECMHC in programs, policies, and practice to support the social emotional wellbeing of infants and young children. This webinar also offered a preview of subsequent webinars in the series. Webinars and eventsWebinar: Infant and Early Childhood Consultation MessagingInfant and Early Childhood Mental Health Consultation (IECMHC) builds the capacity of child-serving systems to positively impact young children and their families’ long-term mental health outcomes. It is important to describe to stakeholders what IECMHC is and its benefits. When stakeholders are aware of IECMHC’s value in supporting mental health outcomes for young children and families, they can help expand, integrate, and sustain IECMHC broadly in child-serving systems. Presenters Kim Eithun, Linda Delimata, and Dawn Yazzie explain key IECMHC messaging concepts, how to create effective messages for stakeholders, and how to use the IECMHC infographic to explain what IECMHC is and how it's applied. ReportWhat Works? A Study of Effective Early Childhood Mental Health ProgramsThis seminal reports summarizes the results of a mixed methods study that focused on six effective IECMHC programs in early care and education settings. A conceptual framework was developed which continues to influence the design of IECMHC programs nationally. GuideWhat Works? Resource CompendiumA curated list of sample materials from IEMCHC programs featured in the "What Works?" study Webinars and eventsWindows of Reflection: Johari’s Window in Reflective SupervisionExplore how the inclusion of Johari's Window in reflective supervision and practices could help increase reflective capacity, and deepen the reflective practice experience. During this session participants will explore the idea of reflective capacity as a skill to be strengthened and developed. Participants will also use Johari's window to write prompts that encourage reflection and self-awareness. The Center of Excellence for IECMHC shares the following on reflective practice "Reflective practice helps staff members understand their own reactions to the children and families with whom they work and help them to use this self-awareness to develop strategies to enrich their work." By introducing tools to encourage self-awareness those who participate in reflective practice provide greater opportunities to generate enriched strategies that benefit children and families. Webinars and eventsYou are my other meIn their workshop, “You Are My Other Me,” First-Generation and BIPOC-affirming practitioners Sunny Cho and Jenny Lopez look at what Reflective Consultation Groups can do in Infant & Early Childhood Mental Health Consultation. By intertwining their personal stories, both will share on the inception, design, implementation, and evaluation of virtual Reflective Consultation Groups offered across early education centers throughout California, since the inception of the COVID-19 global pandemic to present. Both will reflect openly on how Reflective Consultation Groups have evolved alongside their own growth. Their focus now is a supportive community for early education professionals, emotional respite, and brave dialogues around collective grief and loss, racial trauma, and systematic oppression. Sunny and Jenny aim to inspire fellow consultants to embrace Reflective Group Consultation as a tool for both personal and collective growth, and helpful in promoting a culture of wellness among early childhood education communities. The workshop stresses co-leading Reflective Consultation Groups as a deliberate practice that strengthens workforce development and long-term sustainability.
Core topics
For those who are ready to dig deeper than the IECMHC Basics, resources are clustered into the following five topic areas, which align with the core components of strong IECMHC programs and overall high-quality consultation services.
- Programs and ModelsThe nuts and bolts of IECMHC service delivery and IECMHC program infrastructure: what you provide, to whom, where, and how, and how to pull it all together.
- WorkforceThe competencies, training, supervision, mentoring, and quality assurance systems needed to build a strong IECMHC workforce.
- EquityStrategies and information to help IECMHC programs and consultants reduce disparities and promote effective, nurturing caregiving for all children.
- Research and EvaluationThe research base for IECMHC and guidance on developing and effectively utilizing theories of change, logic models, evaluation plans, and other research tools to measure IECMHC program fidelity and impact.
- Policy and FinancingTools and knowledge to support financing and sustaining IECMHC efforts, including key policies/initiatives, creative funding streams, and tips for strategic communication.
What the research shows in each setting
Consultation works in more than classrooms. See what the research shows in each place young children are served.

Early Care and Education
See the evidence
Home Visiting
See the evidence
Early Intervention
See the evidence
Child Welfare
See the evidence
Pediatric Primary Care
See the evidence
The full curriculum
We offer ten free, self-paced courses that run from defining the work to evaluating it. Anyone can take them, and you don't need an account.
- Strengthening Early Childhood ProgramsThis tutorial explains why mental health belongs in early childhood settings. It also shows what consultation changes in Head Start.
- Defining Early Childhood Mental Health ConsultationThis tutorial explains what consultation is and what it isn't. It also covers the consultant's role.
- The Effective Mental Health ConsultantThis tutorial covers who does this work and the competencies it takes. It also shows how to deliver high-quality services.
- Mastering the Consultative StanceThe consultative stance is what this work rests on. This tutorial shows how a consultant holds it in practice.
- Partnering with FamiliesThis tutorial treats family engagement as part of consultation practice. It covers how to set the stage for partnerships with families and how to strengthen them.
- Recognizing and Supporting Social Emotional DevelopmentThis tutorial covers social and emotional development from the first year through age five. It also covers risk factors and community referrals.
- Recognizing and Addressing TraumaThis tutorial explains trauma and how it affects young children. It covers the signs to watch for and the consultant's role.
- Developing a Vision and Strategic PlanThis tutorial shows how to turn a mental health vision into a program-level strategic plan and put it into practice.
- Implementing and Evaluating ECMHCThis tutorial covers job descriptions, hiring, contracts, workgroups, and continuous quality improvement.
- Cultural and Linguistic CompetenceThis tutorial looks at the cultural context of consultation and how to practice in a culturally responsive way.
Guides
Each guide gathers everything we've published on one subject into a single page you can read start to finish.
- Classroom ideas that hold big feelingsTeachers can use these classroom ideas right away. They cover emotions, friendship, problem solving, and handling disappointment.
- The IMH specialist suiteWhat infant mental health work is, what an IMH specialist does, and where to find specialized training.
- Five actions on maternal depressionFive actions for programs: identify families, train staff, use reflective supervision, connect families to care, and reduce stigma. Take them in order. The sequence is the intervention.
Help us expand the evidence base
We're growing our resources and research, and we want to work with researchers.
Key topics of focus:
- The impact of IECMHC in Home Visiting, EI, and Child Welfare
- The ROI of IECMHC and impact on staff turnover, expulsion and suspension rates
- The effectiveness of IECMHC consultants from non-clinical backgrounds
Become a Center of Excellence and Attunify certified consultant
Train with the team that wrote the national IECMHC competencies.