Continuing Education
Serious Mental Illness in Focus: Specialized Topics for Practitioners
Jan. 30-April 24, 2025
This seven-part series will utilize a diverse set of teaching methods to create an engaging and informative learning experience for participants. These methods are designed to accommodate various learning styles and ensure that attendees gain a well-rounded understanding of the subject matter.
Renowned experts will deliver video presentations, offering valuable insights and real-world experiences. These videos provide a direct connection between participants and the presenters, facilitating comprehension and illustrating practical applications of the content. Slide presentations will complement the video content, offering visual aids and organized outlines of the topics discussed. These slides serve as reference materials, emphasize key points and enhance overall understanding.
While the series features video presentations, they are not passive lectures. Speakers will actively engage the audience within their presentations, encouraging questions, discussions, and critical thinking. Participants can ask questions and interact with the speakers to delve deeper into the subject matter. Small group discussions play a pivotal role in the learning process.
After each video presentation and lecture, participants will join facilitated small group discussions. These discussions promote active participation, idea exchange and practical application of the content to real-life scenarios. They encourage participants to share their perspectives, learn from one another, and explore diverse viewpoints.
These teaching methods create a dynamic and comprehensive learning environment, ensuring that participants actively absorb and apply the knowledge gained. The combination of video content, slide presentations, interactive lectures and small group discussions fosters critical thinking and skill development in addressing the complex topic of serious mental illness.
- Speaker: Gary Cuddeback, Ph.D., M.S.W., M.P.H.
- Date: Thursday, Jan. 30, 2025
- 6-8 p.m. ET
Dr. Cuddeback, the School of Social Work's dean, has been involved in dozens of projects focused on individuals with severe mental illnesses, especially those individuals who are involved with the criminal justice system, and has published papers about the physical health needs of justice-involved individuals with severe mental illnesses; the prevalence of individuals with mental illnesses in prison; the role of Medicaid on mental health service use and recidivism after jail release; the characteristics of individuals with mental illnesses who are incarcerated in jails versus prisons; and adaptations of evidence-based practices for justice-involved individuals with severe mental illnesses.
He will provide an introduction to severe mental illness and how social workers are an integral part of working with this aspect of mental health.
Objectives
Participants will be able to:
- Define serious mental illness and how social workers can impact individuals with these diagnoses.
- Review the history of how serious mental illness was treated and how the field has shifted treatment strategies
- Speaker: Ariel Hill- Thomas, RN
- Date: Thursday, Feb. 13, 2025
- 6-8 p.m. ET
Objectives
This seminar will discuss the many challenges that pregnant women with SMI face during pregnancy in connecting with appropriate mental health care and support. This seminar will review the many factors that contribute to health disparities for this population. This seminar will also address the stigmatization that exists within motherhood for women with SMI. This seminar will also briefly discuss what trauma-informed mental health care looks like for this population. This session will end with an open discussion on how interdisciplinary collaboration can make a difference in addressing health disparities and stigma while promoting trauma-informed care for this population.
Participants will:
- Discuss challenges pregnant women with SMI face when connecting with appropriate mental health care/support.
- Review factors contributing to mental health disparities in this population.
- Discuss what trauma-informed care looks like for this population.
- Speaker: Samantha Day, D.S.W., LCSW
- Date: Thursday, Feb. 27, 2025
- 6-8 p.m. ET
Objectives
This presentation explores severe mental illness (SMI) in older adults, emphasizing the critical distinctions between dementia, delirium and depression. It discusses the diagnostic criteria, clinical features and challenges in accurately differentiating these conditions, considering their overlapping symptoms and prevalence in the elderly population. The presentation underscores the importance of thorough assessment and targeted interventions tailored to each condition to optimize person-centered care and improve health and wellness outcomes.
Participants will:
- Review the critical distinctions between dementia, delirium and depression.
- Discuss the diagnostic criteria, clinical features and challenges in accurately differentiating these conditions, considering their overlapping symptoms and prevalence in the elderly population.
- Evaluate targeted interventions for each mentioned condition that optimize person-centered care.
- Speaker: Kelly Johnson, LCSW
- Date: Thursday, March 13, 2025
- 6-8 p.m. ET
Objectives
This presentation describes a Trauma-Informed approach to crisis work and the Crisis Intervention Team (CIT) model on the Yurok Reservation. The CIT model partners law enforcement and behavioral health professionals to provide effective crisis intervention services. The Yurok Tribe is the largest tribe in California, and the reservation spans two rural counties in far northern California. We will discuss Trauma-Informed Responses in Indian Country, which can be applied to any marginalized community. This presentation will focus on the impacts of trauma including historical and intergenerational trauma.
Participants will:
- Review a trauma informed approach utilized in crisis work.
- Discuss the impacts of trauma, including intergeneraional trauma.
- Evaluate how the crisis intervention team model is used on the Yurok Reservation and the ways this model is utilized with law enforcement and behavioral health services.
- Speaker: Ryan Chiarella, D.O.
- Date: Thursday, March 27, 2025
- 6-8 p.m. ET
Chiarella is an associate professor in the VCU Department of Psychiatry; director, schizophrenia program; and interim director, emergency psychiatric services.
This session will cover the DSM diagnosis of malingering to include the most common reasons why one might malinger. It will discuss typical and atypical symptoms of psychosis and ways to differentiate between genuine and malingered psychosis. It will explore types of interview questions that can help an evaluator elucidate a pattern of malingered psychotic symptoms. This session will discuss instruments that are commonly used in the field to evaluate for malingered psychosis. This session will conclude with a discussion of means of evaluating and dispositioning these patients from the emergency department or inpatient unit.
Objectives
- Review the DSM diagnosis of malingering to include the most common reasons why one might malinger
- Evaluate typical and atypical symptoms of psychosis and ways to differentiate between genuine and malingered psychosis
- Explore types of interview questions that can help an evaluator elucidate a pattern of malingered psychotic symptoms
- Review instruments that are commonly used in the field to evaluate
- Speaker: Samantha Day, D.S.W., LCSW
- Date: April 10, 2025
- 6-8 p.m. ET
Objectives
This presentation explores the complex intersection of severe mental illness (SMI) with intellectual and developmental disabilities (ID/DD). It highlights the unique challenges faced by individuals who experience both conditions, including diagnostic complexities, limited treatment options and disparities in healthcare access. The discussion emphasizes the importance of tailored, interdisciplinary approaches to care that address the specific needs of this population, aiming for improved quality of life and outcomes.
- Review the complex intersection of severe mental illness (SMI) with intellectual and developmental disabilities (ID/DD).
- Discuss unique challenges faced by individuals who experience both conditions, including diagnostic complexities, limited treatment options and disparities in healthcare access.
- Evaluate interdisciplinary approaches to care that address the specific needs of this population, aiming for improved quality of life and outcomes.
- Speaker: Katie Smithwick, Pharm.D., BCPP, BCPS
- Date: Thursday, April 24, 2025
- 6-8 p.m. ET
Objectives
This presentation will provide an overview of psychopharmacology for schizophrenia and bipolar disorder. The discussion will focus on management of antipsychotic and mood stabilizing medications and guideline recommendations for treatment. Medication selection, dosing, monitoring and adverse effects will be reviewed. Individualization of medication treatment based on patient specific factors such as patient preference, treatment history, comorbid conditions and access to care will be discussed.
- Review management of antipsychotic and mood stabilizing medications and guideline recommendations for treatment.
- Discuss medication selection, dosing, monitoring and adverse effects.
- Evaluate individualization of medication treatment based on patient-specific factors such as patient preference, treatment history, comorbid conditions and access to care