About this course

Learning Objectives

• Discuss the importance of well-developed emotional skills in relation to increased well-being, improved relationships, and better academic performance in children.
• Identify models of resiliency in adolescents and discover practical application of these models.
• Discuss the psychological impact that the portrayal of mental health struggles in media has on children and adolescents.
• Summarize ways to raise LGBTQ allies and change the messages on the playground.

Learning Levels

• Beginner
• Intermediate

Course Instructor(s)

• 

  Margot Rittenhouse, LPCC

  Clinical Director Trellis Recovery Center

  Margot has a Master of Science in Clinical Mental Health Counseling from Johns Hopkins University and is a Licensed Professional Clinical Counselor specializing in treating adults and adolescents with eating disorders. Margot has additional training in DBT, Trauma-Resiliency Model, and SPARCS. Margot began her career in eating disorders in 2012 as an advocate and mentor and has since worked as a therapist and manager in eating disorder treatment, written over 1,000 articles for Eating Disorder Hope website, and ghost-written a book for Registered Eating Disorder Dietitian Robyn Goldberg. Margot enjoys spending time outdoors, reading, and spending time with her two dogs and cat.

• 

  Marc Brackett, PhD

  Founder and Director of the Yale Center for Emotional Intelligence

  Marc Brackett, Ph.D., is the Founder and Director of the Yale Center for Emotional Intelligence and a Professor in the Child Study Center of Yale University. He is the lead developer of RULER, an evidence-based approach to social and emotional learning that has been adopted by nearly 2,000 pre-K through high schools across the United States and in other countries. He also serves on the Board of Directors for the Collaborative for Academic, Social, and Emotional Learning (CASEL).

  As a researcher for over 20 years, Brackett has focused on the role of emotions and emotional intelligence in learning, decision making, creativity, relationships, health, and performance. He has published 125 scholarly articles and received numerous awards and accolades for his work in this area. He also consults regularly with corporations, such as Facebook, Microsoft, and Google on integrating the principles of emotional intelligence into employee training and product design. Most recently, he co-founded Oji Life Lab, a corporate learning firm that develops innovative digital learning systems on emotional intelligence.

  Brackett’s mission is to educate the world about the value of emotions and the skills associated with using them wisely. “I want everyone to become an emotion scientist”, he says. “We need to be curious explorers of our own and others’ emotions so they can help us achieve our goals and improve our lives.”

• 

  Jeff Davis

  American writer and television producer

  Jeff Davis is a writer-producer-director who created the series Criminal Minds for CBS, Teen Wolf for MTV, and is currently Showrunner for the Sarah Michelle Gellar starring series, Wolf Pack, on Paramount Plus.

  Like the audience it targets, Davis’ new show is open in discussing and depicting the generalized anxiety disorder that affects lead character Everett Lang (Armani Jackson). Before he witnesses a catastrophic wildfire and receives a mysterious and gigantic animal bite, Everett deals with the everyday trials of surviving high school. The series opens with him on a crowded school bus, covering his head as he attempts breathing exercises and talks on the phone to his therapist. Some advice from Davis’ brother —“Anxiety is basically evidence of your body working at peak condition” — is even referenced in the scene.

  “The rule in writing is always to introduce a character by what they want,” Davis says. “So what he wants is to get rid of his anxiety. What he needs is to learn that anxiety is a tool and that you can’t get rid of anxiety.”

• 

  Baback Gabbay, MD

  Chief Medical Officer Destinations for Teens

  Dr. Gabbay is a child and adolescent psychiatrist who specializes in the following: substance use and eating disorders; adolescent mood, anxiety, and psychotic disorders. Dr. Gabbay earned his Bachelor’s degree in Economics and also underwent medical school training at UCLA.

  After medical school he completed both general adult psychiatry residency and fellowship training in child and adolescent psychiatry at Harbor-UCLA Medical Center. He has had extensive training within the realm of emergency psychiatry room, inpatient, residential and outpatient treatment settings. His clinical experience encompasses medication management and therapy services to a diverse range of clients, with specialized intensive clinical training with dual diagnosis clients. Prior to joining Destinations to Recovery, Dr. Gabbay served as Attending Psychiatrist for Center for Discovery Adolescent Group residential homes in the South Bay. He also has extensive experience treating low socioeconomic and foster care patients through The Help Group and Penny Lane Mental Health Centers.

  Dr. Gabbay currently works as Destinations’ Chief Medical Officer where he is passionate about the care he provides and strives to constantly self-educate through continuing medical education trainings/self-directed learning, as well as teaching his colleagues. Dr. Gabbay’s philosophy towards medication management follows a holistic, interdisciplinary approach. Clinical information is gathered from multiple sources (client, family, school, therapist, nursing and outside referral sources) in order to make an informed decision regarding a definitive diagnosis and appropriate medication recommendations. Dr. Gabbay evaluates all clients whether they are prescribed medication or not.

  In his spare time, Dr. Gabbay loves to swim and play basketball. He frequently will spend spare time hiking with his wife. He is a huge fan of comic book movies (both Marvel and DC Comics) and 1980’s popular music. His family has been known to chuckle on more than one occasion at his Spotify music list.

• 

  Chris Tompkins, AMFT

  Author, Ted X Speaker, LGBTQ Therapist

  Chris Tompkins is a Registered Associate Marriage and Family Therapist, TEDx speaker, and author of the best-selling book, Raising LGBTQ Allies: A Parent’s Guide to Changing the Messages from the Playground. Chris has a Master of Arts in Clinical Psychology from Antioch University with a specialization in LGBTQ Affirmative Psychology.

  Prior to becoming an LGBTQ affirmative therapist, Chris bartended for 11 years at a popular bar in West Hollywood, CA while teaching social-emotional learning (SEL) throughout Los Angeles County at high schools, after school programs, the Los Angeles LGBT Center’s Homeless Youth Shelter, and Los Angeles Central Juvenile Hall.

  In addition to being a therapist and author, Chris is an LGBTQ advocate. He writes a blog on Psychology Today called, “LGBTQ Affirmative Psychology,” to help mental health professionals best support their LGBTQ+ clients. Chris is a regular guest on popular podcasts and his work has been featured on HuffPost, Psychology Today, Healthline, Giddy, NAMI, Learning for Justice, Elephant Journal, and Scary Mommy.

Disclosure

References

• Asakura, K., & Craig, S. L. (2014). “It gets better”… but how? Exploring resilience development in the accounts of LGBTQ adults. Journal of Human Behavior in the Social Environment, 24(3), 253-266.
• Asakura, K. (2019). Extraordinary Acts to “Show Up”: Conceptualizing Resilience of LGBTQ Youth. Youth & Society, 51(2), 268–285. https://doi.org/10.1177/0044118X16671430
• Brackett, M. A. (2020). Permission to feel: the power of emotional intelligence to achieve well-being and success. New York, Celadon Books.
• Brackett, M. A. (2018). The Emotional Intelligence We Owe Students and Educators. Educational Leadership, 76(2), 12-18.
• Brackett, M. A., Rivers, S. E., Bertoli, M. C., & Salovey, P. (2018) Emotional intelligence. In L. F. Barrett, M. Lewis, & J. M. Haviland-Jones (Eds.), Handbook of Emotions (4th ed., pp. 513-531) New York, NY: Guilford Press.
• Riles, J. M., Miller, B., Funk, M., & Morrow, E. (2021). The modern character of mental health stigma: A 30-year examination of popular film. Communication studies, 72(4), 668-683.