Mental Health Matters: Wellness Across the Lifespan Webinar Series
The Georgetown-Howard Universities Center for Clinical and Translational Science (GHUCCTS) in partnership with Georgetown Leadership Education in Developmental Disabilities (GU LEND), and Zion Baptist Church Health Ministry are hosting a webinar series focusing on mental health wellness.
The webinar series was created in response to community interests and needs and designed to share ideas about priorities for health research and ways to communicate research findings to community members in the District of Columbia. Current research and interventions to promote wellness and address mental health challenges across the lifespan within our local communities will be highlighted.
Session Title: Brain-based responses to trauma and healing: Implications and strategies for parents and caregivers supporting their children with complex health and mental health needs
This session will introduce the neurobiology that underlies our different ways of being in the world and will include practical, capacity-building strategies that have been demonstrated as effective in strengthening adult-child relationships. We will cover both the impact of early experiences of trauma and adversity on brain development, as well as how the brain can recover from trauma through relationship-based approaches. We will discuss strategies that we have used in our work with other parents and educators–as well as in our own families–that are grounded in co-regulation, or responsive interactions that can impact brain development for children and adults across the lifespan. This session is offered by a panel of practitioners involved in research who are also parents of children and youth with disabilities; some of our children also cope with co-occurring behavioral health conditions. We will reflect on our emerging use of strategies that are research-informed and healing-centered, as we consider and re-consider parenting approaches and collaborate to build supportive, community-based environments for our children to thrive.
Presenters:
Pamala Trivedi, PhD & MEd, School Psychology, MA International Studies:
Dr. Pamala Trivedi is a licensed psychologist, nationally certified school psychologist, policy expert, and applied behavioral health researcher with more than two decades of experience supporting children, youth and adults across a range of developmental levels, as well as the providers and families who care for them. She is committed to strengths-based, resilience-focused approaches, and brings a national policy lens to her work in building and sustaining systems that are responsive to the behavioral health and learning needs of children, families, and providers; particularly folks from minoritized racial and ethnic groups. As the parent of a child with developmental and behavioral health needs, Pamala has also been a tireless advocate for embedding social-emotional supports and services in inclusive educational settings. In addition to directing Georgetown’s Leadership Education in Developmental Disabilities (GULEND) and serving as the Associated Director of the GUCEDD, Pamala supports educator and staff wellness, and provides direct therapeutic support to middle- and high-school students as a school-based behavioral health clinician in a DC charter school through the Georgetown/Medstar Center for Wellbeing in School Environments (WISE). Pamala continues to learn and be humbled by parenting her two school-age children, and lives with her family in Washington, DC.
Fari Ghamina Tumpe:
Fari is a multi-generational caregiver with lived experience of disability and 4th generation resident of the District. Fari is a housing, child care, disability and environmental advocate who cares for her three differently-abled grandchildren. Fari is a certified peer support specialist who has also been trained in mindfulness and healing-centered approaches. Fari is currently a fellow at Georgetown University’s LEND program, and is involved in research about engaging fathers and father figures who have experienced incarceration in families, programs, and systems.
Maya Coleman, PhD Clinical Psychology, MA Special Education/Learning Disabilities
Dr. Maya Coleman is the Executive Director of Hand in Hand Parenting, a non-profit mentoring and training organization supporting parents and professionals worldwide. For the previous decade, Maya worked as a Clinical Psychologist in private practice supporting families of young children who have had challenging early experiences including preterm birth, perinatal complications, early illness and medical treatment, developmental challenges, and caregiving disruptions. Maya has a background in Special Education and provides professional development training for early childhood educational communities. Maya is also the Special Education Discipline Coordinator for Georgetown’s Leadership Education in Developmental Disabilities (GULEND) Program.
Leigh-Kirsten Sims, MEd, Special Education
Leigh is the founder and Executive Director of EdCoSpace. She is a developmental therapist and provides consultation to families of young children, public and charter schools in the District, and policy and program leaders. A special educator by training, Leigh has been implementing connection-based supports to young children and their families while her own parenting journey has been unfolding. Leigh was awarded Parent of the Month by DC Area Moms in February 2024, and is the parent of an amazing young child who is neurodiverse. Leigh completed a fellowship in neurodevelopmental disabilities at Georgetown’s LEND program, and is a Board member of Educare DC.