Mary Acri

Depression is a chronic, impairing disease that is the leading cause of burden globally. In addition to affecting academic and work performance, depression impacts our relationships with others. Interpersonal treatments can address and potentially enhance the quality of one’s relationships with others. The purpose of this webinar is to describe the theoretical and practical components of interpersonal approaches for adolescents and adults with depression. An overview will be provided along with a discussion of strategies consistent with an interpersonal approach.

Agency and clinic practices that include a parent partner in the services provided for families have been reported as an effective way to increase engagement and retention in services. Parent partners serve as peer support to parents by providing information, being a credible source of information, and modeling effective advocacy and collaborative skill. They also support parents to become advocates for their children and often function as bridges between clinicians and families.