2022 Virtual STAR-Center Conference

Conference Agenda

May 6, 2022

Via Zoom

8:00 AM                            LOG ONTO ZOOM

8:30 to 11:30 AM            CONFERENCE OVERVIEW

                                           KEYNOTES

Preteen Suicide and Suicidal Behavior:  Assessment and Prevention

              Arielle H. Sheftall, PhD
                            Principal Investigator, Center for Suicide Prevention and Research
                            Center for Health Equity and Outcomes Research
                            Abigail Wexner Research Institute at Nationwide Children’s Hospital
                          Assistant Professor, Department of Pediatrics, Psychiatry and Behavioral Health

There will be a brief break between Keynotes

This Can’t Wait… Giving Educators the Tools: The Need to Understand and Address Students’ Mental Health Concerns

Mary Margaret Kerr, EdD
              Professor of Health and Human Development, University of Pittsburgh

11:30 AM                         LUNCH (On Your Own)

12:45 PM                          SKILL DEVELOPMENT WORKSHOPS - GROUP 1

2:00 PM                            BREAK

2:15 PM                            SKILL DEVELOPMENT WORKSHOPS – GROUP 2

3:30 PM                            ADJOURNMENT

STAR-Center is funded by an appropriation from the Pennsylvania General Assembly.  The University of Pittsburgh is an affirmative action, equal opportunity institution.

All presentations are introductory to intermediate instruction level.

KEYNOTE ADDRESSES

Keynote Address: Preteen Suicide and Suicidal Behavior:  Assessment and Prevention

Arielle H. Sheftall, PhD, Principal Investigator, Center for Suicide Prevention and Research
Center for Health Equity and Outcomes Research
Abigail Wexner Research Institute at Nationwide Children’s Hospital
Assistant Professor, Department of Pediatrics, Psychiatry and Behavioral Health

This presentation will discuss the current trends, research findings, and racial disparities concerning preteen suicide and suicidal behavior. The presenter will also suggest assessment for this age group as well as opportunities for prevention.

At the completion of this session, participants should be able to:

1.   Explain the current trends, research findings, and racial disparities concerning preteen                 suicide and suicidal behavior

2.   Discuss options of assessment of suicidal ideation and suicide attempts in preteens

3.   Identify opportunities for suicide prevention for preteens

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Keynote Address: This Can’t Wait! Giving Educators the Tools They Need to Understand and Address Students’ Mental Health Concerns

Mary Margaret Kerr, EdD
Professor of Health and Human Development, University of Pittsburgh

This presentation offers evidence-informed strategies for helping educators understand and address their students’ mental health. Specifically, we review a) oversights in educator preparation programs, b) missteps in professional development and coaching, c) confusion in the selection of mental health programs and services, and d) resources for addressing these critical problems.

At the completion of this session, participants should be able to:

1.  Identify resources for professional development and new teacher induction

2.  Discuss best practices in selecting mental health programs and services

3.  Identify assessment tools for evaluating ongoing school mental health initiatives

SKILL DEVELOPMENT WORKSHOPS

Please note that participants will select two workshops – one from Group 1 and one from Group 2. 

GROUP #1 - 12:45 – 2:00 p.m. (SELECT ONE WORKSHOP FROM GROUP #1)

1. Workshop Title:  Balancing Recovery, Rights, and Risk in Violence Prevention:  The Role of Threat Assessment

• Jack Rozel, MD, MSL
  UPMC Western Psychiatric Hospital
• Rob Ambrosini, PsyD
  Southwestern Pennsylvania Regional Threat Assessment Hub

The recovery model is uniquely well suited to understanding and preventing violence – not because of recovery’s link to living with mental illness, but because of recovery’s emphasis on understanding and working with the whole person and family.  Schools and communities are increasingly using threat assessment as a tool to understand and manage violence risk.  Done properly, the multidisciplinary threat assessment approach is person centered, recovery oriented, and protective of the rights of the student while attending seriously to the need to prevent targeted violence.

This presentation will explore – and hopefully – demystify threat assessment and how it is used to prevent school violence.  Threat assessment is an increasingly common tool being used by schools to evaluate threats and one actively promoted by the Pennsylvania Safe2Say program.  Similar models have been broadly endorsed by mental health advocacy groups along with law enforcement professionals.  Identifying untreated or undertreated mental illness and providing linkage for effective services is an important part of the process, but only one element of the process.  Threat assessment provides an opportunity to build multidisciplinary plans to support students at risk for violence.

This presentation will explore these topics, using illustrative case examples, and, if done live, polling for interaction with the audience in addition to Q&A.  Ethics, risks, and limitations of threat assessment will be addressed as well.

At the completion of this session, participants should be able to:

1. Define multidisciplinary threat assessment
2. Identify concerning behavior or speech that may indicate violence risk
3. Discuss limits, risks, and benefits of threat assessment

2. Workshop Title: Having the Conversation:  Strategies for Effective Communication with Adolescents about their Social Media Use 

• Candice Biernesser, PhD, LCSW
  Postdoctoral Scholar, Department of Psychiatry, University of Pittsburgh

This presentation will aim to aid parents, teachers, and clinicians in navigating conversations about social media use and monitoring with adolescents through providing updated information on social media trends and their impact on adolescent suicidal risk and effective strategies for monitoring at-risk adolescents.

At the completion of this session, participants should be able to:

1. Discuss the most up-to-date literature investigating the influence of social media use on adolescent suicide risk
2. Identify newer trends in social media use and their impact on risk behaviors
3. Recognize strategies for social media monitoring that have the strongest evidence base for reducing risk among vulnerable youth.

C. Workshop Title: Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT) in Schools 

• Carla D. Chugani, PhD, LPC
  Assistant Professor of Pediatrics, Psychiatry, and Clinical and Translational Science, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine

This presentation will provide an overview of models (and their associated research) for delivering DBT in secondary and post-secondary school settings.

At the completion of this session, participants should be able to:

1. Describe the core components of DBT treatment
2. Recognize popular models of adapting DBT treatment for delivery in school settings  
3. Describe recent advances in delivering DBT skills as universal prevention/psychoeducation in schools

4. Workshop Title:  Substance Use in Adolescents and Young Adults

• Antoine Douaihy, MD
  Professor of Psychiatry and Medicine, University of Pittsburgh Medical Center and University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine
• Rebecca Miller, MD
  Assistant Professor of Psychiatry, University of Pittsburgh Medical Center and University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine

Substance use is pervasive and endemic among adolescents and young adults (AYAs). The approach to the screening, assessment, and treatment of AYAs with SUDs is similar in some respects to adults; however, developmental considerations require an approach tailored to the psychological, cognitive, legal, and social context. This workshop with discuss substance use and SUD in AYAs.

At the completion of this session, participants should be able to:

1. Identify the recent and emerging trends in substance use among adolescents and young adults (AYAs)
2. Discuss the screening assessment, and diagnosis processes
3. Discuss the evidence-based treatments for substance use disorders (SUDs) for AYAs

5. Workshop Title:  Safety Planning with Pre-Teens 

• Kelsey Bero, LPC, NCC
  Behavioral Health Therapist II, STAR-Center, UPMC Western Psychiatric Hospital

This workshop will review the elements of safety planning with special consideration to the needs of the pre-adolescent population. Skill development will focus on adjustments to the assessment of suicidal ideation, introduction of safety plan, and collaborative creation of safety plan with the pre-teen. Additional discussion of how to the present safety plan to parents and caregivers will be reviewed.

At the completion of this session, participants should be able to:

1. Identify and use age-appropriate language to assess suicidality and introduce the concept of safety planning
2. Apply safety planning steps to collaboratively create safety plan with pre-adolescents
3. Confidently communicate safety plan components to parents and caregivers of pre-teens for effective implementation

6. Workshop Title:  Clinician Well-Being in 2022:  Trading Perfection for “Good Enough” 

• Sansea Jacobson, MD
  Child & Adolescent Psychiatrist, STAR-Center, UPMC Western Psychiatric Hospital
• Dominique Dove, MSCP
  Behavioral Health Therapist I, STAR-Center, UPMC Western Psychiatric Hospital

The last two years left many mental health professionals languishing. This immersive, interactive session will acknowledge the consequences of unrelenting stress, disconnectedness, and frustration with telehealth and broken systems. We will define the concept of being “good enough” and explore ways to support our colleagues and ourselves differently going forward.

At the completion of this session, participants should be able to:

1. Describe how a “good enough” mindset can support well-being and define what “good enough” means in our current clinical/work environment
2. Describe at least one new way to cope with workplace stress in an adaptive way 
3. Connect meaningfully and authentically with fellow clinicians around the experience of being a mental health professional in 2022

GROUP #2 - 2:15-3:30 p.m. (SELECT 1 WORKSHOP FROM GROUP #2)

7. Workshop Title: Identifying and Managing Workplace Stress:  Tips for Educators While Coping with Stress Through a Pandemic 

• Toya Jones, EdD, LCSW, BASW
  Program Director, Assistant Professor, University of Pittsburgh School of Social Work  

Educators have very challenging jobs. Never have educators faced more stress than during this current pandemic, upheaval in traditional school practices, racial turbulence, and let’s not forget that you have your own lives to manage. If you are stressed, you’re right on track! You may be wondering about the best ways to manage your stress as you return to school, online, or in person. This seminar is for you. We will first learn what stress is and how unproductive stress affects our brain, body, mood, and behavior. Next, we’ll explore easy to use, yet effective strategies, to reduce our stress and get us back on track. Lastly, we’ll discover useful tips, I like to call them “Dr. Toya’s Tips” on how to customize a stress conquering plan just for you!

At the completion of this session, participants should be able to:  

1. Identify how stress affects the brain, body, mood, and behavior
2. Discover evidence-informed strategies for identifying, managing, and preventing stress
3. Use a mobile app to manage stress through a customized plan just for you

8. Workshop Title:  Giving Children the Tools to Tame the Monster:  Talking to Students About the Trauma Associated with Loss Events in Schools

• Mark Lepore, EdD, LPC, LCSW
  Clarion University of Pennsylvania

While being honest with children about something as frightening and upsetting as death, illness, or injury may feel callous and damaging, it is actually very important to be straightforward and truthful. This presentation will concentrate on means and methods for providing the support children need when dealing with loss events.

At the completion of this session, participants should be able to:  

1. Recognize how grief reactions may manifest in behaviors
2. Explain how factors related to the individual child and the loss event will guide your approach
3. Identify and utilize tools (skills) that a student can use to help promote their resilience

1. Workshop Title: Understanding and Treating Children and Adolescents with Chronic Pain and Other Somatic Symptoms 

• Alisha Miller, PhD
  Licensed Psychologist, Western Psychiatric Hospital
• Kaycee Weir, PhD
  Licensed Psychologist, Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh

Chronic pain and other somatic symptoms are a common experience among children and adolescents and persistent pain has been linked with significant physical, social, and psychological impairment and distress. This presentation will provide an overview of chronic pain and other somatic symptoms in youth as well as discuss specific tools and strategies for working with this population.

At the completion of this session, participants should be able to:

1. Define chronic pain and identify common presentations of pain and other somatic symptoms
2. Identify at least three factors that may increase youth risk for developing chronic pain and other somatic symptoms
3. Describe interventions and accommodations for children and adolescents with chronic pain and other somatic symptoms

10. Workshop Title:  Mindfulness in Times of Stress, and How to Introduce it to Teens 

• Danella Hafeman, MD, PhD
  Assistant Professor, Department of Psychiatry, University of Pittsburgh

Mindfulness has become a hot topic in recent years. In this workshop, we will (1) provide an introduction to mindfulness; (2) discuss how mindfulness interventions might impact brain and emotions, particularly in high-stress environments; and (3) introduce some practical exercises that can be used to integrate these concepts in various settings with adolescents.

             At the completion of this session, participants should be able to:  

1. Define what mindfulness is (and what it is not)
2. Describe how mindfulness interventions can impact emotion regulation and stress response
3. Gain familiarity with mindfulness exercises that may be used in a variety of settings with teens

11. Workshop Title: Brief Interventions for Depression in Youth:  Considering Benefits and Limitations

• Rachel Vaughn-Coaxum, PhD
  Assistant Professor of Psychiatry, University of Pittsburgh, School of Medicine

This workshop will cover the current evidence for brief interventions for depression in youth, including skills-based cognitive behavioral treatments and alternative approaches. The presentation will include practical applications, limitations to our knowledge, and clinical considerations for use of brief interventions in different settings and with different client populations.

At the completion of this session, participants should be able to:

1. Identify current evidence-based brief interventions for depression symptoms in youth
2. Recognize the limitations to our knowledge on the effectiveness of certain brief interventions for youth depression
3. Identify broader clinical considerations for use of brief interventions in clinical care settings, and the role of client-level individual differences for informing clinical decision-making

        L.  Workshop Title: Addressing the Mental Health Needs of Transgender and
             Non-Binary Youth                

• Dana L. Rofey, PhD, FTOS
  Associate Professor, University of Pittsburgh, Department of Psychiatry, Pediatrics, Psychology

Transgender and non-binary youth (TGNB) experience disproportionate disparities such as higher rates of mental illness, multiple chronic diseases, and higher rates of disability compared to their cis-gender peers. Due to stress and discrimination that TGNB face, our youth are at increased risk for depression, anxiety, and suicidality. Studies show that approximately 50% of TGNB will contemplate suicide, with risk being much higher if rejected by their families. Clinicians need to provide a safe space to explore identity and recognize that providing gender-affirming behavioral and medical healthcare decreases these inequities.

At the completion of this session, participants should be able to:

1. Recognize additional questions to ask when assessing TCNB youth presenting for mental healthcare
2. Identify unique mental healthcare needs for our TCNB youth
3. Discuss evidence-based recommendations for treatment paradigms in TGNB youth experiencing co-occurring mental health disorders

All presentations are introductory to intermediate instruction level.

For additional information regarding presenters or presentations, please go to www.starcenter.pitt.edu, or contact Jamey Covaleski @ covaleskijj@upmc.edu.