Training Future School and Clinical Psychology Leaders in Consultation for Early Childhood Education Settings

ABSTRACT

This paper describes how training school and clinical psychology graduate students in early childhood mental health consultation (ECMHC) has the potential to fill gaps in the ECMHC workforce, enhance the capacity of early care and education (ECE) providers to effectively support the mental health needs of children and families, and help ECE programs provide equitable services to children and families. We first present the need for explicit ECMHC training in school and clinical psychology doctoral programs, and how didactic coursework and practica could align with national competencies for high-quality ECMHC. We then illustrate how graduate programs might aspire to greater impact by 1) shifting to promotion and prevention, systems- and organizational-based practice orientations, and equity and cultural competence principles; and 2) leveraging ECE programming to infuse ECMHC practice. We conclude with a call to action for graduate programs to address this need for mental health professionals with specialized ECMHC competencies.

Acknowledgments

The authors wish to thank Jason Downer for his helpful comments on an earlier draft of this article.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Notes

¹ In this paper, we use ECE as an inclusive term to refer to all early care and education programs and providers serving children birth to five, including formal and informal home and center based child care settings; however, many of our experiences and recommendations focus on center-based care.

² We use the term ECMHC as synonymous with infant and early childhood mental health consultation (I/ECMH).

³ In this paper, we focus on doctoral level training. However, the issues presented also are likely relevant for Ed.S. or Master’s training programs.

⁴ We acknowledge there are key differences in graduate training programs for school and clinical psychologists not accounted for here; however, going into further detail about these differences is beyond the scope of this paper.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Doré R. LaForett

Doré R. LaForett, PhD, is a Senior Research Scientist at Child Trends, who also conducts research at the FPG Child Development Institute at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Her research focuses on studying contexts that influence the academic and social emotional development of children under age eight from low-income and culturally and linguistically backgrounds, particularly children who are dual language learners. Her work includes developing and testing educational, social-behavioral, and family-focused interventions and programming. As a licensed psychologist, she has extensive experience serving as an early childhood mental health consultant.

Marissa A. Bivona

Marissa A. Bivona, MA, is pursuing her doctorate in clinical and school psychology at the University of Virginia under the mentorship of Dr. Amanda Williford. Her prior experience includes working eight years as an early childhood educator, completing the Harris Fellowship in Early Childhood Education at Calvin Hill Daycare and Yale Child Study Center, and serving as a classroom consultant. She completed her master’s in psychology at Southern Connecticut State University. Marissa’s research and clinical interests are deeply informed by her time spent working in daycare, and center on creating supports for teachers, families and children in early childhood settings.

Julia Mendez Smith

Julia Mendez Smith, PhD, is a Professor of Psychology at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro and a co-investigator with the federally-funded National Research Center on Hispanic Children and Families. Her research focuses on risk and resilience among ethnically diverse children, emphasizing parent-child interactions and family engagement in early childhood programs. As a clinical psychologist, she teaches doctoral students consultation methods and practices with an emphasis on early childhood mental health consultation.

Amanda P. Williford

Amanda P. Williford, PhD, is a Batten Bicentennial Professor of Early Childhood Education and the Associate Director for Early Childhood Education at the Center for Advanced Study of Teaching and Learning within the School of Education and Human Development at the University of Virginia. She is a core faculty member of the Clinical and School Psychology Program. Her applied research focuses on children's school readiness development with an emphasis on developing children’s social-emotional skills and mental health well-being.