Training FAQs

Although the minimum requirement is 30 hours, we expect Endorsement applicants to add enough training hours to demonstrate the competencies you’ve developed through your career. We recommend that you use the Competency Guidelines® to help you decide what trainings and how many hours to add. Once you’ve met the minimum requirements and captured the competencies, you do not need to add any more training hours.

​If you are unable to renew your endorsement based on not meeting the required renewal hours for training and RSC, you can reach out to the Endorsement Coordinator  and discuss other options. If you choose not to renew because you are no longer interested in Endorsement or did not renew by the deadline, your application will be moved to Inactive, you will be removed from the Endorsement registry, and you will no longer be able to use IMH-E® behind your name. 

There is no limit on how long ago the training was attended, to be counted towards requirements. However, it is not necessary to submit a comprehensive list of every training ever attended. Your entries should reflect a breadth and depth that demonstrate IECMH competencies.

Trainings do not need to be sponsored by WA-AIMH to be eligible or count towards endorsement. Many trainings you attend for your license or agency requirements qualify towards endorsement. A specialized training that is eligible for Endorsement should meet the following criteria:

1. Is culturally sensitive, relationship-focused and promote Infant Mental Health

2. Relates to one or more of the competencies in the Competency Guidelines®

3. Is specific to the Endorsement for which you are applying.

4. Learn more about our current trainings.

Infant Family Specialist (IFS) work experience is typically broader and encompasses many of the ways the applicants might work with the families of infants and toddlers including case management, part C service coordination, parent education and family support.
 

Infant Mental Health Specialist (IMHS) work experiences are often (but not always) home-based and include the following interventions: advocacy, developmental guidance, emotional support, concrete assistance, and parent-infant/very young child relationship-based therapies and practices. These therapies and practices are intended to explore issues related to attachment, separation, trauma, and unresolved losses as they affect the development, behavior and care of the infant/very young child. The therapies and practices may include but are not limited to parent-infant psychotherapy, interaction guidance, and child-parent psychotherapy.

Yes, work with pregnant women and families does count towards the required work experience for IFS and IMHS. However, the applicant’s work experience must ALSO include work with infants, toddlers and their families.