Mental Health Can Be Taught:  An Evidence Based Approach to Psychosocial Skills and Parent Effectiveness Training

Mary N. Cook, MD is a Board Certified Child and Adolescent Psychiatrist. She is the Medical Director of Clinical Services for the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at The Children’s Hospital in Denver, CO and is Medical Director of the Child Psychiatry Clinic and the Intensive Family Therapy Program at the University of Colorado Hospital.  She is also an Assistant Professor of Psychiatry at the University of Colorado Denver. Dr. Cook is deeply committed to training child psychiatry residents and other mental health trainees and recently won a resident nominated award for teaching excellence. She specializes in working with families with children who’ve been diagnosed with Disruptive Behavior Disorders. She spearheaded the development of a series of outpatient specialty clinics as well as an Intensive Outpatient Psychiatry Program at The Children’s Hospital in Denver. She authored a book Counseling Kids with Emotional and Behavioral Problems in the Schools and articles on treatment of challenging kids including a therapist’s manual on mastery of psychosocial skills. She is a frequent presenter in the community for schools and primary care providers. Her passion is in working with families and overarching philosophy of treatment involves minimizing use of medication, while maximizing psychosocial and parenting skills.

Selection of Workshop, Breakout & Poster Session Titles