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It’s no secret that the healthcare industry is struggling to find and retain top talent. While the workforce landscape is competitive, recruiting talented employees is not impossible.

When a person seeks information about treatment for themselves or their loved one, the importance of connecting them with the appropriate level of care right from the start cannot be overstated.

Intensive programs for OCD can serve as a bridge between different levels of care, specifically as a step-up from weekly outpatient therapy or as a step-down from partial hospitalization/residential programs.

There can be confusion when differentiating between body dysmorphic disorder (BDD) and eating disorders (EDs). They both involve pre-occupying appearance-related thoughts and repetitive behaviours, but are treated differently.

According to the DSM 5, Body focused repetitive behaviors (BFRBs) are classified as obsessive–compulsive related disorders. But the question remains, how do we treat BFRBs?

Dr. Widge presented at ADAA’s 2023 conference on how he believes “mental disorders are brain network disorders” and how treatments like Deep Brain Stimulation (DBS), Vagus Nerve Stimulation (VNS) and Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (TMS) are quite possibly the wave of the future for certain mood and anxiety disorders, and particularly those that are treatment-resistant. 

Therapy can vary from patient to patient, clinician to clinician, but two ADAA members who presented at the 2023 Annual Conference believe therapy for SAD and other related disorders can benefit from an additional tool. Their conference session, Me Talk Funny One Day: Teaching Social Skills for Social Anxiety and Other Disorders, not only confirmed that belief but explained it.

Now that telehealth and in-person services are available, what are important factors for clinicians, youth, and families to consider?

The headlines and the CDC report are indeed alarming, but they should serve as a wakeup call to all of us. Yes, we should think seriously about why we are seeing a steep decline in the mental health of teenage girls, but we have to come together now as parents, family, friends, educators, clinicians, providers, and as a society to support, enhance and establish more preventive measures for our youth.

ADAA had the chance to chat with the 2023 Donald F. Klein awardee, Emily L. Belleau, PhD, and the 2022 awardee, Sage E. Hawn, PhD, about the award and what it means to each of them. Speaking together, the two clinicians were an impressive duo, each with her own set of skills, knowledge and study, working on separate but incredibly meaningful and valuable research. Both Dr. Hawn and Dr. Belleau expressed the importance of being recognized by ADAA for their work and the significance of their studies.

We’ve all wished at times that we could have a therapist in our pockets. Digital mental health interventions are bringing us closer to making this a reality.