Applicants pursuing the following credentials must pass an exam prior to earning Endorsement®:

• Mental Health Specialist (I/ECMHS)

• Mental Health Mentor-Clinical (I/ECMHM-C)

• Mental Health Mentor-Policy (I/ECMHM-P)

• Mental Health Mentor-Research/Faculty (I/ECMHM-R/F)

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Part 1: 90-Minute Multiple Choice

Consists of 60 multiple choice questions focused on I/ECMH knowledge specific to work with infants, toddlers, young children, and their families. Questions relate to direct service, reflective supervision/consultation, policy, and research.

Your study of the following topics, learned in a university program, through intensive infant/early childhood mental health in-service trainings and workshops and self-study is the third component. Opportunities to reflect on what is learned with colleagues and senior clinicians helps to better ensure integration of theory into practice.

• Pregnancy, childbirth, and the newborn period

• Attachment theory and early relationship development

• Caregiving practices and behaviors

• Family, parenting, and childcare issues

• Infant, toddler, and young child development in all domains (e.g., social, emotional, cognitive, language, and physical)

• Temperament and individual differences in infancy and early childhood

• Indicators of risk, identified disturbance or disorder, as well as capacity, in infancy, early childhood, and early parenthood

• Infant/Early Childhood mental health practice

• Best practice of infant/early childhood mental health assessment, diagnoses, and treatment approaches

• Cultural humility

• Familiarity with standardized screening and assessment tools

• Familiarity with service delivery systems that cater to infants, toddlers, and their families

• Reflective supervisory practice (Mental Health Mentor-Clinical)

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Part 2: 90-Minute Vignette(s)

Part 2 is intended to measure the Applicant’s capacity to apply their knowledge of IECMH principles into practice and demonstrate a reflective, relationship-based approach through written responses to vignettes. The vignettes/scenarios are different for exam respondents depending on their category of Endorsement. See the categories below for more information.

 

MHS

 

Mental Health Specialist: You will respond to 2 of 3 vignettes from the perspective of:

• your work experiences with infants, toddlers/young children and their families, where you are working from a relationship-based perspective practicing infant/early childhood mental health, and

• your experience with reflective supervision (individual or group).

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MHM-C

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Mental Health Mentor-Clinical: You will respond to 2 of 3 vignettes from the perspective of:

• an Infant/Early Childhood mental health specialist/practitioner, and

• an I/ECMH Reflective Supervisor/Consultant

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Consider:

• your work experiences with infants, toddlers/young children and their families, where you are working from a relationship-based perspective practicing infant/early childhood mental health.

• your experience with reflective supervision (individual or group).

• your experience as a supervisor/consultant who has provided, or is providing, reflective supervision to practitioners working with infants, toddlers, young children, and parents/caregivers.

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MHM-P

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Mental Health Mentor-Policy: You will respond to 1 of 2 vignettes from the perspective of:

Your extensive leadership experience with the infant/young child-family field ensuring the promotion and practice of infant/early childhood mental health.

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Consider:

• Funding

• Systems development

• All that is required to promote change across systems

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MHM-R/F

 

Mental Health Mentor-Research/Faculty: You will respond to 1 of 2 vignettes from the perspective of:

Your extensive research and teaching experience in the infant/young child-family field related to the study of pregnancy, infancy, early childhood, and early parenthood; attachment security and relationship needs; risk and resiliency in the early years; caregiving practices; early assessment and intervention strategies, and the mental health needs of infants, toddlers/young children, to name a few.

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Consider:

• Your experience as it relates to the role of teaching, or

• Your experience as it relates to conducting research.

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