When the Going Gets Tough: Navigating Complex Challenges in Pediatric Psychology

The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences presents a new webinar series: CHOP Pediatric Psychology Perspectives.

The theme for 2024 is: When the Going Gets Tough: Navigating Complex Challenges in Pediatric Psychology

We have three presentations planned for the following dates this summer: June 11, July 15, and August 19 all at 7PM ET/6PM CT/ 4PM PT.

• June 11: Charting Compassionate Courses: Navigating Moral Distress as a Pediatric Psychologist
• July 15: Navigating Complicating Factors in Inpatient Care: Malnutrition and Psychiatric Comorbidities as an Example
• August 19: Saying Goodbye: Pediatric Psychology Across the End-of-Life Continuum

We invite all psychologists, behavioral health professionals, and trainees of all levels to attend and learn more about our innovative programming and evidence-based approach to supporting medically complex patients and families across the lifespan.

The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia is approved by the American Psychological Association to sponsor continuing education for psychologists. The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia maintains responsibility for this program and its content. Each lecture has been approved for 1 CE credit. In order to be eligible to earn CE credit for the webinar, attendees will need to be present for at least 50 minutes.

Disclosure Statement: The presenters have no acutal or potential conflict of interests or relevant financial relationships with any commercial interests to report in relation to these lectures.

Event Contact: Gayle Chesley, PhD; chesley@chop.edu

June 11: Charting Compassionate Courses: Navigating Moral Distress as a Pediatric Psychologist

Debra Lefkowitz, Psy.D.

Dr. Debra Lefkowitz is a Section Co-Chief, Pediatric Psychology, in the Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences of the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP) and an Associate Professor of Clinical Psychology at the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania. She received her doctoral degree from Rutgers University, and completed postdoctoral training in Pediatric Psychology from Children’s Hospital Boston/Harvard Medical School. At CHOP, she provides clinical care and leads program development and quality improvement in pediatric transplantation, and is a long-standing member of the hospital Ethics Committee. Dr. Lefkowitz is a former Councilor of the International Pediatric Transplant Association (IPTA), and is currently on their Allied Health and Ethics Committees, and on the editorial boards of Pediatric Transplantation and Clinical Practice in Pediatric Psychology. She presents frequently on transplant psychology and on ethical issues in pediatric transplantation and pediatric psychology.

Colette Gramszlo, Ph.D.

Dr. Colette Gramszlo is the Clinical Director of the Pediatric Health and Behavior program in the Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences of the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP) and an Assistant Professor of Clinical Psychiatry at the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania. She received her doctoral degree from the University of Louisville and completed pre and postdoctoral training in Pediatric Psychology at Nemours Children’s Hospital, Delaware. She received her master’s degree in bioethics at the Lewis Katz School of Medicine at Temple University. She provides outpatient clinical care to children with chronic medical conditions, and her research focuses on patient-provider communication and meeting the psychosocial needs of families during critical care admissions.

Learning Objectives:

1. Gain knowledge about moral distress and its relevance for pediatric psychologists in healthcare settings.
2. Learn how racism and discrimination impact experience of moral distress.
3. Learn about a tool to navigate morally distressing experiences in the healthcare setting.

July 15: Navigating Complicating Factors in Inpatient Care: Malnutrition and Psychiatric Comorbidities as an Example

Whitney Guerry, Ph.D.

Dr. Whitney Guerry has been a pediatric psychologist on the inpatient consultation/liaison team at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia since 2014. For the last 6 years, she has been the Clinical Director of the service. She completed her graduate studies at Duke University, her internship at CHOP, and her fellowship at Long Island Jewish Medical Center and Columbia University Medical Center.

Jeanna Stokes, Psy.D.

Dr. Jeanna Stokes has been a clinical psychologist on the inpatient consultation/liaison team at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia since 2021, where her clinical focus is on assessment and brief intervention for patients with eating disorders. Prior to CHOP, Dr. Stokes was the director of the WELL Clinic at Drexel University, where she established an outpatient eating and weight disorders clinic. Dr. Stokes earned her doctoral degree from The Chicago School of Professional Psychology, completed her internship at Indiana University CAPS, and completed fellowship at Veritas Collaborative.

Learning Objectives:

1. Identify 2-3 challenges in medical management of malnutrition in patients with disordered eating.
2. Describe the role of the psychologist on the treatment team in the care of patients with malnutrition and psychiatric comorbidities.
3. Explain how psychologists can care for themselves and their relationships with team members when treating patients with malnutrition and psychiatric comorbidities.

August 19: Saying Goodbye: Pediatric Psychology Care Across the End-of-Life Continuum

Paige Lembeck, Ph.D.

Dr. Paige Lembeck is a Pediatric Psychologist embedded within the Very Rare Malignant Tumors Program (VRMTP) at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia and Assistant Professor of Clinical Psychiatry at the University of Pennsylvania Perelman School of Medicine. Her clinical and research interests include issues related to adjustment to cancer (particularly rare diagnoses), family communication in the context of serious illness, and grief and loss. She leads or co-leads program development initiatives that include psychosocial screening within the VRMTP clinic and creation and expansion of communication training opportunities for Oncology nurses and other medical clinicians. Additionally, Dr. Lembeck is the Research Member at Large of Division 54’s Palliative Care & End-of-Life SIG, serves as the Behavioral Science liaison on the Rare Tumor Committee of the Children Oncology Group, and is trained in Meaning Centered Psychotherapy, an evidence-based intervention designed for patients with advanced or incurable cancer. Prior to coming to CHOP, she worked as a Pediatric Psychologist and Assistant Clinical Professor at the Yale Medicine Child Study Center, where she provided pediatric psychology services within several multidisciplinary Neurology clinics. Regarding her earlier training, Dr. Lembeck received her doctorate in school psychology at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. Subsequently, she completed her internship and postdoctoral fellowship at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, where she provided services to youth with cancer and other catastrophic diseases.

Torri Jones, Ph.D.

Dr. Torri Jones is a Pediatric Psychologist embedded in the Cellular Therapy and Transplant Section (CTTS) of the Division of Oncology at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia and Assistant Professor of Clinical Psychiatry at the University of Pennsylvania Perelman School of Medicine. Areas of clinical expertise include behavior modification, pediatric blood and marrow transplant (BMT), immunotherapy, palliative care, health equity, and cultural humility. Her research program identifies psychosocial risk factors, supports family-centered intervention, and assesses program design and efficacy for quality improvement. She developed a pre-treatment screening program to facilitate early access to behavioral health care and adapted an empirically supported token economy system (with support from its developers at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center) to reinforce medical adherence during transplant. Findings have been presented at national and international scientific meetings. Dr. Jones is a member of the BMT Supportive Care Committee to design and support programming to improve staff communication, workflow, safety, and the patient and family experience. She authored sections on psychosocial wellbeing and palliative care in a position paper recently published in Cancers. She is a member of the International Society of Paediatric Oncology, Multinational Association of Supportive Care in Cancer (Pediatric and Psychosocial Study Groups), and the National Center for Faculty Development and Diversity. Dr. Jones designed and co-directs a seminar on diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) in the CHOP Psychology Internship Program and supervises postdoctoral fellows facilitating process groups for interns across the CHOP and University of Pennsylvania Psychology Internship Programs. Dr. Jones serves as a member of the Training Advisory Committee, co-lead of the DEI Workgroup for Psychology Training, co-lead of the Language Access Committee within the Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences (DCAPBS), and the Cultural Humility Task Force to coordinate professional development for DCAPBS clinicians. She earned a Teacher of the Year award for excellence in teaching and mentorship.

Lamia Barakat, Ph.D.

Dr. Lamia Barakat is a Pediatric Psychologist and Professor in the Departments of Pediatrics and Psychiatry at the University of Pennsylvania Perelman School of Medicine. She holds the Stephen and Susan Kelly Endowed Chair in Behavioral Oncology and directs Psychosocial Services and Behavioral Oncology Research Programs at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia Cancer Center. In addition, Dr. Barakat is co-Chief for the Division of Integrated Psychiatry, Psychology, and Behavioral Health of the Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences. Dr. Barakat's funded research program focuses on applying risk and resilience models in implementation of universal, systematic, family psychosocial risk screening and development and evaluation of family-based interventions to improve disease management and health-related quality of life for children with chronic health conditions including cancer and sickle cell disease and their families. She and her co-PI (Janet Deatrick) have just completed a randomized trial of a caregiver problem-solving intervention to improve family management and quality of life for young adult survivors of childhood brain tumors and their caregivers. CHOP also serves as a site for a trial of meaning-centered grief therapy for parents bereaved of cancer (led by Wendy Lichtenthal). She has been a leader in developing eHealth/mHealth interventions to improve adolescent and young adult engagement in treatment decision-making, building on work with youth with health disparity conditions and with cancer around attitudes to clinical trials and perspectives on decision-making involvement and experiences. Today's presentation focuses on the development of a web-based decision support intervention ready for implementation with newly diagnosed adolescents and young adults. She also collaborates with and mentors emerging leaders in the field on digital solutions to improve cancer treatment adherence and self-management. Dr. Barakat is co-Chair of the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia Research Institute DEI Council, and she serves on the Scientific Committee for the International Society of Pediatric Oncology, the editorial boards of Pediatric Blood and Cancer and the Journal of Pediatric Psychology, and the Behavioral Science Steering Committee of the Children’s Oncology Group.

Learning Objectives:

1. Demonstrate evidence informed interventions at the patient, family, healthcare system, and culture levels across the pediatric end-of-life care continuum.
2. Integrate cultural humility into family-centered pediatric care across the end-of-life care continuum.
3. Review strategies for meaning making including self-care for pediatric psychologists and their healthcare teams.