Navigating Pediatric Mental Health: A Practical Guide for Clinicians
- Continuing Education
Start Today Register and begin immediately.
Strengthen your impact in pediatric mental health with this practical, skills-focused course designed to empower clinicians and educators with real-world strategies for effective assessment, compassionate care, and culturally sensitive communication to better support children and adolescents in crisis.
- Online; Self-Paced
This course is offered on demand and participants progress through the materials at their own pace.
Continuing Education Credits
Earn up to:
4.00 AMA PRA Category 1 Credit(s) ™
4.00 ANCC contact hours
4.00 ASWB CE Credits
View All
On This Page
Overview
Since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, there has been a significant increase in pediatric patients experiencing behavioral health crises. This course is designed to provide practical strategies and continuous improvement for skill enhancement in understanding the challenges faced by today’s clinicians and professionals within the health care and education sectors who routinely engage with children and adolescents. This includes, but is not limited to, refining skills in validation and rapport building, as well as assessment and triage of mental health issues in children and adolescents. By exploring essential concepts, real-life scenarios, and actionable techniques, you will develop a skill-set that improves clinical interactions and patient outcomes.
Learning Objectives
- Demonstrate validation and rapport-building techniques in clinical encounters to establish compassionate, respectful, and culturally sensitive relationships with patients and families.
- Apply identity awareness and cultural sensitivity strategies to improve clinical interactions and address mental health stigma in diverse patient populations.
- Assess common safety concerns and risk-taking behaviors among pediatric patients, and develop safety plans that include lethal means counseling.
- Implement evidence-based self-care and resilience-building practices for clinicians and families, identify appropriate treatment options for anxiety, depression, and AD/HD, and facilitate effective warm handoffs to ensure continuity of care for patients.
Developed and Offered By:
Continuing Education courses are developed by faculty from Harvard Medical School's teaching hospitals and accredited by Harvard Medical School. This course is offered by McLean Hopsital.
Participant Types
Physician Assistants, Nurses, Nurse Practitioners, and Primary Care Physicians.
Schedule
All agenda sessions are in Eastern Time.
Outline
Topic 1: Essential Techniques for First Contact
Jacqueline (Jacqui) Sperling; Erica Lee; Blaise Aguirre
Topic 2: Identity, Awareness, Stigma
Martin La Roche; Cindy Liu
Topic 3: Safety Concerns
Patricia Ibeziako; Melissa Freizinger
Topic 4: Clinician Responsiveness and Wellness
Jason Fogler; Jo Shapiro; Elizabeth Frates
Assessment Questions
Faculty
Harvard Medical School Continuing Education attracts the best and brightest faculty from all around the world. As a student in this course, you’ll have access to outstanding course directors and faculty.
- Co-Founder and Co-Program Director of the McLean Anxiety Mastery Program, McLean Hospital
- Assistant Professor of Psychology in the Department of Psychiatry at Harvard Medical School
Erica Lee
PhD
- Training Director of the Psychology Internship Program, Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Boston Children’s Hospital
- Assistant Professor of Psychology in the Department of Psychiatry at Harvard Medical School
Jason Fogler, PhD
Attending Psychologist, Division of Developmental Medicine
Associate Professor of Pediatrics; Assistant Professor of Psychology, Harvard Medical School
Beth Frates, MD
Associate Professor (Part Time), Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation
Director of Wellness Programming at the Stroke Institute, Spaulding Rehabilitation Hospital
Director of Lifestyle Medicine and Wellness, Department of Surgery, Massachusetts General Hospital
Melissa Freizinger, PhD
Associate Director, Eating Disorder Program
Assistant Professor of Psychology in the Department of Psychiatry, Harvard Medical School
Patricia Ibeziako, MD
Associate Chief Quality Officer for Behavioral Health
Associate Professor of Psychiatry, Harvard Medical School
Sabra Katz-Wise, PhD
Martin La Roche, PhD
Attending Psychologist, Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences
Associate Professor of Psychology in the Department of Psychiatry, Harvard Medical School
Cindy Liu, PhD
Associate Professor of Pediatrics, Massachusetts General Hospital
Matthew Nock, PhD
Jo Shapiro, MD
Associate Professor of Otolaryngology–Head and Neck Surgery, Harvard Medical School
Director, Center for Professionalism and Peer Support, Brigham and Women's Hospital
Heather Walter, MD
Request Information
Interested in learning more about this program? Sign up for details.
Course Fees
Fee Disclaimer
All learners will receive a confirmation email upon successful registration, followed by a separate message with instructions to activate their HMS MyLearn account and begin the course.
At the end of the registration process, a $5 non-refundable processing fee will be added to your registration. Because online course materials can be accessed immediately, refunds are not permitted. For more information, please email: learn@hms.harvard.edu.
| Role | Standard Price |
|---|---|
| Physician (MD/DO) | $15.00 |
| Nurse (RN/APRN) | $15.00 |
| Psychologist | $15.00 |
| Resident/Fellow | $15.00 |
| Social Worker | $15.00 |
| Allied Health Professional / Other | $15.00 |
Accreditation
The Harvard Medical School designates this enduring material for a maximum of 4.00 AMA PRA Category 1 Credit(s)™. Physicians should claim only the credit commensurate with the extent of their participation in the activity.
Harvard Medical School designates this live activity for a maximum of 4.00 ANCC contact hours.
The National Commission on Certification of Physician Assistants (NCCPA) states that AMA PRA Category 1 Credits™ are acceptable for continuing medical education requirements for recertification. We would also suggest that learners check with their state licensing board to ensure they accept reciprocity with AMA PRA Category 1 Credit™ for re-licensure.
The American Medical Association (AMA) has an agreement of mutual recognition of continuing medical education (CME) credit with the European Union of Medical Specialties (UEMS). Additional information regarding this agreement may be found on the European Union of Medical Specialties website.
The Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada recognizes conferences and workshops held outside of Canada that are developed by a university, academy, hospital, specialty society or college as accredited group learning activities.
As a Jointly Accredited Organization, Harvard Medical School is approved to offer social work continuing education by the Association of Social Work Boards (ASWB) Approved Continuing Education (ACE) program. Organizations, not individual courses, are approved under this program. Regulatory boards are the final authority on courses accepted for continuing education credit. Social workers completing this course receive 4.00 general continuing education credits