The 6th Annual CICAMH Conference on March 19th 2021 is a whole day virtual conference. This is a unique multidisciplinary conference for Child and Adolescent psychiatrists, pediatricians, therapists, and clinicians who take care of her children with mental health needs in San Diego, California and Southern California. This conference will focus on complicated and challenging aspects of mental health issues involving children and adolescents in the area of COVID–19 pandemic. Special emphasis on resilience and management of special needs children with focus on social, economic and racial disparities.

The conference is a virtual presentation which will be streamed live to the participants. The format includes plenary sessions and also breakout sessions with focus groups. Hands-on training and therapeutic techniques and interventions are planned.

This will be a unique multidisciplinary conference highlighting the collaboration between different specialties of clinicians managing mental health needs in children and adolescents and the County of San Diego Health;th and Human Services Agency, Behavioral Health Services. Clinicians from different specialties will showcase interventions using specialized therapeutic and psychopharmacological techniques. The conference emphasizes the importance of multidisciplinary approach in the management of mental health needs of children and adolescents with focus on specialized therapeutic techniques and up-to-date knowledge on diagnosis and early intervention.

The conference focuses on the race relationship, diversity, social issues, inclusiveness and challenges and school and daily living situations.

OBJECTIVES:

• Comprehend the importance and effect of multidisciplinary collaborative approach in the treatment of children and adolescents with mental health issues.
• Explore emotional intelligence and coping strategies in the era of COVID-19 Pandemic with focus on resilience.
• Understand sleep disorders in children with focus on the normal sleep patterns and the various disorders of sleep that may impact children and youth and know the preferred treatment interventions to address these problems.
• Discuss how racism and cultural view impacts childhood development and growth and how the society can understand the challenges and manage them.
• Describe learning disorders and pervasive developmental disorders with focus on identifying the key factors that would help with early recognition and accurate diagnosis using DSM-V.
• Deliberate the impact of early childhood trauma, immigration issues and mental health practice with immigrants and refugee youth.
• Recognize the cultural issues and symptoms of commonly diagnosed mental health disorders in children and adolescents.
• Distinguish different therapeutic modalities and understand ways to implement specialized techniques when managing children and youth with emotional psychiatric challenges.
• Learn about different opportunities and challenges in providing team focused collaborative care across professional disciplines.
• Identify and describe characteristics of the upcoming generations of youth within the context of the electronic information world.
• Examine the impact of immigration, family separations and stigma on emotional functioning, social development and functionality.
• Appreciate the challenges faced by youth who are gender non-conforming, unsheltered and coping with political, racial and social instability.
• Value interdisciplinary interventions and enhance the quality of physical and mental health care delivery.