Sarah Vinson MD

Recent years have presented challenges to communities everywhere, and with them new stressors to mental health. Mental wellness is vital as children and adolescents progress through their various developmental and educational stages. With effective intervention, the negative effects of a mental health or developmental issue can be lessened significantly.

Distinguished psychiatrist Dr. Sarah Vinson takes a bio-psycho-social approach, meaning that she endeavors to understand environmental, psychological and biological factors that are at play in a child or adolescent’s life. Informed parents and caregivers can better assist kids when armed with knowledge about the mental health issues that today’s youth face — from anxiety to body dysmorphia or suicidal thoughts.

Happily, there has been a positive shift in cultural understanding, and we now realize that many of today’s youth experience mental health concerns and that it’s okay to talk about these concerns openly, without shame, just as one would discuss a child’s physical health.

For children and adolescents, the symptoms of mental illness and developmental disorders may manifest in a number of ways, some of which include decreased academic performance, poor social relationships with peers, defiant or disruptive behaviors with adults, suicidal thoughts, anger, irritability, depressed mood, anxiety, aggression or substance use.

Join us and learn the warning signs of mental health conditions and the expectations for and steps to recovery Participants will discover how we can overcome feelings of isolation, pressures to be excellent and the fear of being perceived as vulnerable or spiritually weak when our children suffer mental health issues. Vinson will share hope for achieving better days to come!

Sarah Y. Vinson MD is an award-winning triple board-certified physician who specializes in adult, child, adolescent, and forensic psychiatry with advanced training in trauma from Harvard Medical School. Dr. Vinson is an award-winning Associate Clinical Professor of Psychiatry and Pediatrics at Morehouse School of Medicine and Adjunct Faculty at Emory University School of Medicine. She has received numerous awards in recognition of her service and leadership and has been appointed to national and statewide office by her professional peers including the American Psychiatric Association, the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, NAMI and The National Urban League. Dr. Vinson has edited two books on mental health and authored chapters on resilience, media, social determinants of children’s mental health, social injustice, child trauma and clinician advocacy.