A free virtual educational day focused on working with teens with depression, suicidality, and other high-risk presentations was offered by the Yale Child Study Center (YCSC) on Saturday, November 5, 2022. Over 70 participants engaged in the day-long sessions.
Centered around meeting the complexities of adolescent mental health, the inaugural event included sessions provided by leading experts in the areas of anxiety and school refusal, depression and suicidality, eating disorders, self-harming behaviors, and gender dysphoria.
The aim was to equip school-based mental health providers with resources to support their work with students with complex presentations. In addition to the professional development provided, a variety of helpful resources were shared, including information about ongoing clinical and research trials at the YCSC.
“Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, school mental health providers have experienced first-hand the significant impact on their students’ mental health,” said the event organizers. “As front-line providers in educational systems, school-based mental health providers are often the first to see these concerns, and can be responsible for identifying, referring, and even treating these students.”
YCSC Associate Professor Michael Bloch opened the day by welcoming participants and noting that the hope is, “this forum is the first annual conference on the complexities of adolescent mental health.” He also shared that part of the reason he became a child psychiatrist was “the dinner conversations I had with my mom when she was a teacher and talking about the kids in her class.”
As noted on the event website, some of the biggest challenges of being on the mental health front lines occur when multiple presenting concerns surface in adolescents. The goal of the virtual forum was to provide resources for the front-line providers supporting these students in schools.
Information about future forums will be posted on the YCSC website when available. To receive notification about this and other YCSC events in your inbox, please subscribe to YCSC Connections.