Endorsement Categories and Requirements

The infant and early childhood mental health field is cross disciplinary. It spans a range of sectors and services, from promotion, prevention, intervention to leadership or macro. Providers working with or on behalf of pregnant people, infants, toddlers, young children, and their families to support ongoing, healthy social emotional development with a culturally sensitive, relationship focused framework are represented within the categories of the Infant Mental Health Endorsement® (IMH-E®) and Early Childhood Mental Health Endorsement (ECMH-E®)

To determine which category best represents your knowledge, skills and expertise it is helpful to begin by thinking about the scope of practice aligned with your professional experience within the infant/early childhood mental health (I/ECMH) field. 

Categories & Requirements

Endorsement applicants across all categories demonstrate their experience in and knowledge of the competency areas specific to their scope of work (detailed within the Competency Guidelines®) by documenting the following in an online, peer-reviewed application:

  • Education
  • Professional experience
  • Continuing education or in-service training
  • References
  • Reflective supervision experiences (in some categories)

And in some cases, applicants will be asked to take an exam tailored to their scope of work. 

Each Endorsement category has specific work, education, in-service training, and reflective supervision/consultation (RSC) requirements. Each I/ECMH-E® category has specific work, education, in-service training, and reflective supervision/consultation (RSC) requirements. Before reviewing categories and requirements below, check out Endorsement Category Flowchart to see which category might be the best fit for you!

VIEW ENDORSEMENT CATEGORY FLOWCHART

 

This table represents only a summary of the IMH-E® and ECMH-E® categories. Detailed information specific to each category can be viewed/downloaded below:

Infant Family Associate (IFA)

Infant Family Specialist (IFS)

Infant Family Reflective Supervisor (IFRS)

Infant Mental Health Specialist (IMHS)

Infant Mental Health Mentor Clinical (IMHM-C)

Infant Mental Health Mentor Policy (IMHM-P)

Infant Mental Health Mentor Research/Faculty (IMHM-R/F)

Early Childhood Family Associate (ECFA)

Early Childhood Family Specialist (ECFS)

Early Childhood Family Reflective Supervisor (ECFRS)

Early Childhood Mental Health Specialist (ECMHS)

Early Childhood Mental Health Mentor Clinical (ECMHM-C)

Early Childhood Mental Health Mentor Policy (ECMHM-P)

Early Childhood Mental Health Mentor Research/Faculty (ECMHM-R/F)

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