2024 ADAA Annual Conference Highlights from the InStride Health Team

Kathryn Boger, PhD, ABPP

Kathryn (“Kat”) Boger, PhD, ABPP is a board certified and Harvard-trained child and adolescent clinical psychologist, Dr. Boger has devoted her career to helping children and teens with anxiety and OCD and their families. She is passionate about improving care for youth and decreasing suffering through innovative, research-based treatment approaches. Dr. Boger co-founded the McLean Anxiety Mastery Program (MAMP), nationally recognized for providing empirically-supported, intensive anxiety and OCD treatment. Dr. Boger has served as an assistant professor of psychology at Harvard Medical School and has published a variety of peer-reviewed journal articles, delivered regional and national talks (including a TEDx) and provided training to hospitals, schools, and the community. In 2021, Dr. Boger co-founded InStride Health with the mission of increasing access to insurance-backed, research-based care for children, adolescents, and young adults with anxiety and OCD. Dr. Boger’s children’s book, Step by Step, is about facing fears and being brave.

Mona Potter, MD

Mona Potter, MD is a board certified child and adolescent psychiatrist and is co-founder and Chief Medical Officer of InStride Health, an innovative outpatient program that serves children and adolescents (and their families) diagnosed with anxiety and OCD. She also continues to serve as Assistant Professor of Psychiatry, part time, at Harvard Medical School after two decades in the MGH/McLean/HMS system. Prior to co-founding InStride, Dr. Potter served as the Medical Director of the McLean Child and Adolescent Psychiatry Outpatient Services (including McLean Anxiety Mastery Program, McLean School Consultation Service, and McLean Child and Adolescent Outpatient DBT Program) and served on the Executive Committee of the McLean Institute of Technology in Psychiatry (ITP). She earned a Bachelor of Music from Vanderbilt University and stayed on at Vanderbilt University School of Medicine for her Medical Degree.

May 15, 2024

2024 ADAA Annual Conference Highlights from the InStride Health Team

The annual Anxiety and Depression Association of America (ADAA) conference has become the mecca of evidence-based practitioners and researchers for anxiety, OCD, and depression. For us, it's more than just a learning event; it's akin to a game of “This is your professional life,” where we have the opportunity to reconnect with friends, mentors, and mentees who have been instrumental throughout our careers. We were particularly grateful to have come together last month with current teammates from InStride Health and former colleagues and mentees from the McLean Anxiety Mastery Program (MAMP) where it all started for us. We take immense pride in the impact these individuals are making across the nation, through direct patient care, knowledge dissemination, and leadership roles.

We also got to indulge our nerdy hearts with many wonderful presentations. Here are some highlights from the InStride and MAMP reunion crew:

Daniel Gittins Stone PhD co-presented with the two of us on optimizing exposure therapy through virtual delivery, offering practical insights for planning and executing community-based virtual exposures and overcoming associated challenges.
Brianna Weissel showcased a poster on pediatric anxiety and OCD and family accommodation, highlighting the interplay between child acuity levels and family accommodation, along with changes in accommodation as a result of treatment.
Julia Martin Burch, PhD and Jacqueline Sperling, PhD (joined by Sarah O'Dor, Ph.D. from MGH) led an enlightening workshop on diagnosing and treating PANDAS—an often misunderstood topic.
Julia also collaborated with Meredith Elkins, Ph.D. for a timely discussion on emerging "intensive parenting" trends, covering microdosing, family accommodation, and the discouragement of praise and rewards.
Jarell Myers, PhD presented on the “Invitation to Change Approach” which entails a blend of evidence-based treatments, including Community Reinforcement Approach and Family Training (CRAFT), Motivational Interviewing, and ACT to target comorbid substance use and anxiety.
Abigail Stark, PhD and Esther Tung, PhD (along with Julianne Tirpak, Ph.D. and Blaise Agguire, MD from McLean Hospital and Andrea Gold, PhD from Brown University) gave an informative roundtable presentation on integrating DBT skills into exposure and response prevention (ERP).

In addition, Taylor Wilmer, PhD, ABPP and Kat represented InStride Health in the ADAA Alies Muskin Career Development Leadership Program (CDLP) as mentors to two promising early-career award winners. Taylor also co-led the ADAA Social Anxiety Special Interest Group annual meeting, providing clinicians with a valuable platform for learning and networking.

We left the conference with an arsenal of new ideas and a renewed sense of purpose and are already looking forward to next year’s conference.