Serious Mental Illness at AACAP Annual Meeting 2026

15 sessions on serious mental illness · October 26–31, 2026, Atlanta, GA. Compare serious mental illness at other meetings →

Monday, October 26

13:30–15:30 · Lecture · Clinical Perspectives
Empowering Staff for Quality Residential Care
Terry Git Lee
Looks at empowering staff to deliver quality care in residential treatment settings.
Child & Adolescent · Practice, Policy & Workforce
13:30–15:30 · Lecture · Clinical Perspectives
Family Engagement and Discharge Planning
Kalyani Samudra · Heather Smith
Covers family engagement and discharge planning in residential treatment.
Child & Adolescent
13:30–15:30 · Lecture · Clinical Perspectives
Melting the Snowball Before It Reaches the Bottom of the Hill: Role of Primary and Secondary Prevention in Residential Treatment
Stephen Mateka
Examines primary and secondary prevention approaches within residential treatment.
Child & Adolescent
16:00–18:00 · Lecture · Clinical Perspectives
Peer Support for Transition-Age Youth With Severe Mood Disorders: Preliminary Outcomes of the STEAM Project
Memphis Kastner · Erin Belback · Danella Hafeman
Reports preliminary outcomes of a peer support program for transition-age youth with severe mood disorders.
Child & Adolescent · Depression

13:00–15:00 · Lecture
Longitudinal Outcomes for Patients Beyond the First 2 Years in an Early Psychosis Program: Should They Stay, or Should They Go?
Ramin Mojtabai
Looks at long-term patient outcomes beyond the standard two-year period in an early psychosis program and whether to continue or end care.
Schizophrenia & Psychosis
13:00–15:00 · Lecture · Symposium
Reframing Early Psychosis: A Longitudinal, Systems-Based Approach to Youth Care
Ashley Weiss
Presents a longitudinal, systems-based approach to caring for youth with early psychosis, drawing on a decade of clinic experience.
Child & Adolescent · Schizophrenia & Psychosis
13:00–15:00 · Symposium
A Decade of the Early Psychosis Intervention Clinic-New Orleans: Beyond the First Episode—Early Detection and the Continuum of Psychosis Care
Ashley Weiss · Glen McDermott · Patricia Hawley · Ramin Mojtabai · Serena Chaudhry
Reviews ten years of an early psychosis clinic, focusing on early detection and the continuum of psychosis care.
Child & Adolescent · Schizophrenia & Psychosis

11:30–13:30 · Session
Rethinking Family Involvement in the Care and Recovery of Individuals With Mental Illness
Ayse K. Coskun · Eunice Y. Yuen · Andrew Rosenfeld · Lilchandra Sookram · Victoria Stob · Geeta S. Ilipilla
Clinical case conference comparing four family-centered care programs across academic, home-based, community and school settings, with a guided discussion applying them to participants' own cases.
Child & Adolescent · Collaborative & Integrated Care

System-Level Predictors of the Inability to Engage Following Referral to Early Psychosis Intervention Clinic - New Orleans (EPIC-NOLA) — Sonali Notani et al.
Mental Health Housing Readiness Framework for Transitional-Age Youth in Interim Housing: A Multisite Qualitative Analysis — Cody Carrier et al.

Lecture · Honors Presentations
Norbert and Charlotte Rieger Service Program Award for Excellence: Centering the Families: Early Childhood Mental Health Systems of Care
Mary Margaret Gleason
Award presentation on family-centered systems of care for early childhood mental health.
Child & Adolescent

Associations Between Medical and Recreational Cannabis Legalization and Serious Mental Illness in Young People Living in the United States — Christopher Joseph Hammond et al.

09:00–11:00 · Lecture · Clinical Perspectives
A School Psychiatrist’s Perspective: Supporting Students With Psychosis Through Systems Approaches Rooted in Hope-Filled, Recovery-Oriented Perspectives
Apurva Bhatt
A school psychiatrist's view on supporting students with psychosis using recovery-oriented, systems-level approaches.
Child & Adolescent · Schizophrenia & Psychosis
09:00–11:00 · Lecture · Clinical Perspectives
Building Bridges: The Role of Supported Employment and Education Specialists in the Treatment of Youth With Early Psychosis
Juliet Filosofos
Describes how supported employment and education specialists contribute to care for youth with early psychosis.
Child & Adolescent · Schizophrenia & Psychosis

Adverse Childhood Experiences and High-Risk Clinical Phenotypes: Evidence From Offspring of Patients With Severe Mental Illness — Maria A. Amaya-Farfan et al.