mindscape: Helping Young
Minds Thrive
Using an explorative and positive approach, mindscape: Helping Young Minds Thrive provides accessible, actionable information for:
- Young people who are either struggling with mental health challenges or looking to learn about or improve mental wellness, and
- Parents and caregivers who are looking to support young people on their mental wellness journey while also getting support for themselves.
In addition to practical information and helpful tips, the site offers validation and hope for young people and their caregivers.
In addition, the Resources section of the website provides links and contact information to mental health organizations, apps, and helplines for both young people and caregivers.
Harvard Health Publishing’s Role in mindscape
Harvard Health Publishing (HHP) is the consumer health information division of Harvard Medical School (HMS). HHP brings trustworthy, accessible, and actionable health information to a global audience.
Through a generous donation from the Manton Foundation, HHP worked with multidisciplinary and multi-institutional experts in child and adolescent mental health to create content that supports young people facing mental health challenges and their families and caregivers. These professionals provided clinical expertise and leveraged their experiences as child and family advocates to guide content development.
We also sought the input of on-the-ground “experts”: the young people who have faced mental health challenges and their caregivers. We wanted to understand their experiences and hear what was important and helpful to them in the journey toward mental wellness. By reaching out to caregivers we had the opportunity to share insights, and remind folks that they are not alone in trying to help the young people they love.
In short, our goal is to help young minds thrive and achieve mental wellness.
Clinical Advisory Board
J. Stuart Ablon, Ph.D., is the Founder and Director of Think: Kids in the Department of Psychiatry at Massachusetts General Hospital. An award-winning psychologist, Dr. Ablon is Associate Professor and the Thomas G. Stemberg Endowed Chair in Child and Adolescent Psychiatry at Harvard Medical School.
He is the author of three books: Opens in a new tabChangeable, Opens in a new tabThe School Discipline Fix, and Treating Explosive Kids: The Collaborative Problem Solving Approach. Dr. Ablon received his Ph.D. in clinical psychology from the University of California at Berkeley, and completed his training at Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School.
Khadijah Booth Watkins, M.D., M.P.H., is the Director of the Child and Adolescent Psychiatry Residency Training Program of Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) and McLean Hospital; the Associate Director of the Clay Center for Young Healthy Minds at MGH; and the Associate Director of the Psychiatry Clerkship at Harvard Medical School. She specializes in the evaluation, diagnosis, and treatment of psychiatric disorders in children, adolescents, and young adults.
Dr. Watkins received her M.D. from The University of Tennessee Health Science Center, College of Medicine, and M.P.H. from Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health. Dr. Watkins completed a General Psychiatry Residency at the University of Medicine and Dentistry-New Jersey Medical School; a fellowship in Child & Adolescent Psychiatry at the New York-Presbyterian Hospital combined program of Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons and Weill Cornell Medical College: and a two-year Public Child Psychiatry Fellowship at Columbia University/New York State Psychiatric Institute.
Cindy H. Liu, Ph.D., is a licensed clinical psychologist, the Director of the Developmental Risk and Cultural Resilience Program, and an Associate Professor at Harvard Medical School within the Departments of Pediatrics and Psychiatry. She also serves as the Director of the NICU Parent Mental Health Program at Brigham and Women’s Hospital. She received her Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology from the University of Oregon, and completed her clinical internship at McLean Hospital and a postdoctoral fellowship with Boston Children's Hospital. Her program of research focuses on the measurement and mechanisms of stress and its impact on mental health across key points within the developmental lifespan.
Dr. Liu is currently a principal investigator for several studies, including the COVID-19 Adult Resilience Experiences Study (CARES), which focuses on mental health and well-being in young adults; and the BOBA Project, a study that examines how Chinese American teens learn about the Asian identity within their family, their peers, and social media.
Subject Matter Expert Contributors
Shella Dennery, Ph.D., LICSW, is the Director of the Boston Children’s Hospital Neighborhood Partnerships Program (BCHNP), a school-based behavioral health program in the Department of Psychiatry & Behavioral Sciences at Boston Children’s Hospital. She serves as an adjunct faculty member at Boston College School of Social Work, and a lecturer in psychiatry at Harvard Medical School.
Dr. Dennery earned her Ph.D. from Smith College, and holds two post-master’s certificates in child and adolescent therapy and advanced clinical supervision from Smith College. In her role, Shella leads efforts to deliver equitable, culturally responsive behavioral health services in collaboration with the Boston Public Schools.
Terri Farrell, is the Senior Project Director of the Insurance Resource Center for Autism and Behavioral Health. She is a member of the Massachusetts Behavioral Health Partnership Family Advisory Council, and in 2023 Terri was named to the faculty for Harvard Medical School’s Online Education course, Clinical Care for Autistic Adults.
Jason Fogler, Ph.D., is a senior psychologist and director of the Maternal Child Health Bureau–funded Leadership Education in Neurodevelopmental & related Disabilities (LEND) program at Boston Children’s Hospital. He is an Associate Professor of Pediatrics and Assistant Professor of Psychology in the Department of Psychiatry at Harvard Medical School. He has authored over 50 publications, including the edited book Trauma, Autism, & Neurodevelopmental Disorders: Integrating Research, Practice, & Policy from Springer Nature.
Amy Weinstock, is the Director of the Insurance Resource Center for Autism and Behavioral Health at the University of Massachusetts Chan Medical School’s Eunice Kennedy Shriver Center, and an instructor in the medical school’s Department of Psychiatry. She has an extensive background on insurance issues related to autism and behavioral health, and has played a key role in passing several significant pieces of autism insurance legislation in Massachusetts, including the groundbreaking 2010 law requiring health insurance to cover medically necessary treatment for autism.