Parenting CURVE Collaborative Helps Parents Support Youth Mental Health

Being a parent is a tough job — and being a teen and young adult is harder than ever. The good news is that youth mental health and its care are getting more attention. Parents now have resources and support that haven't always been available. Informed parents can steer the conversation around mental health in a destigmatizing and nonjudgmental way — and an upcoming virtual event will help parents stay informed and empowered to support their youth as we all navigate growing up in a complex world.

The Parenting CURVE Collaborative will be held from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. Tuesday, May 9. Dr. Jennifer Zumarraga, a child and adolescent psychiatrist at El Camino Health’s Scrivner Center for Mental Health & Addiction Services, will moderate the virtual event. The event will connect parents with experts in youth mental health, including team members of El Camino Health's ASPIRE (After-School Program Interventions and Resiliency Education) program. CURVE stands for "Connect. Understand. Respond. Voice. Empower." The content helps parents better understand the priorities of young people today and learn to respond effectively and confidently.

The program includes six segments, followed by a live panel discussion:

• Effective Communication & Setting Limits with Youth, Jaclyn Gordon, LMFT, Clinical Director, Awake DBT
• 18 & Beyond: Navigating the Mental Health Needs of a Young Adult Miatta Watkins, LMFT (senior clinician, ASPIRE El Camino Health Transition Aged Youth [TAY] Program)
• Role of Families & Acceptance in Reducing Risk for LGBTQIA+ Youth: Andrea Amor Rufo, LCSW, Gloria Falcinelli, PFLAG Board of Directors, Lisa Peevers, RN & Parent
• Substance Use in Adolescence: Experimentation, Addiction & Recovery: Bradley Zicherman, MD (medical director, ASPIRE QUEST, El Camino Hospital, and clinical assistant professor, Stanford University)
• Cultural Stigma & Shame in Parenting: Adjusting the Lens Dave Mineta, MSW
• The Smart Era Struggle: Resetting & Managing Youths' Relationship with Technology: Hoag ASPIRE Representatives, Prerna Rao, LMFT, and David Cook, LMFT
• Live panel discussion with a graduate family from the ASPIRE program, an ASPIRE clinician, school wellness representative, and pediatrician, moderated by Jennifer Zumarraga, MD

Find the registration form here.

Participants will receive access to a digital portal with vetted resources following the event.

The Parenting CURVE Collaborative is presented in partnership with the ASPIRE Consortium (El Camino Health and HOAG Hospital) and was made possible by a generous gift from the Thomas and Donna Whitney Education Foundation.

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