This symposium is designed to foster meaningful discussions and provide actionable strategies for advancing culturally congruent mental health care. This event brings together thought leaders, practitioners, and stakeholders to explore innovative approaches to addressing cultural barriers, promoting inclusivity, and ensuring equitable access to mental health services for diverse populations.

Learning Objectives

Session 1: Understanding Cultural Competency Moving Toward a Culturally Humble Approach in Mental Healthcare Delivery

• Apply cultural competency in mental health service delivery systems
• Implement cultural humility in patient care to foster deeper understanding and respect for diverse patient backgrounds.
• Use cultural reflexivity to critically assess and improve practices within mental health services organizations. 

Session 2: Navigating Cultural Intersectionality: A Lesson in Cultural Adaptability

• Recognize how intersectional factors like race, ethnicity, gender, and socioeconomic status shape communication in mental health care.
• Implement strategies to adapt communication styles for culturally responsive and effective interactions
• Apply cultural adaptability to improve patient trust, engagement, and therapeutic outcomes

Session 3: Utilizing an Equity-Minded Approach to Mental Healthcare

• Analyze and address provider biases to enhance fairness and effectiveness in treatment delivery.
• Evaluate the impact of social determinants on mental health in underserved communities.
• Develop strategies to leverage community engagement for improving patient-centered care

Session 4: Close out Activities: Lessons learned and Action Planning

• Analyze and summarize key strategies and insights from the symposium to prepare for practical application.
• Create and initiate detailed, measurable action plans to integrate learned strategies into their professional practices.
• Establish collaborative networks to support and sustain the implementation of symposium strategies.
• Design and utilize a review process to evaluate the effectiveness of implemented actions and make necessary adjustments.

Target Audience

Psychiatrists

Format

Recorded live conference.

Instructional Level

Introductory

Estimate Time to Complete

Estimated Duration: 6.0 hours
Program Start Date: April 8, 2025
Program End Date: April 8, 2028

How to Earn Credit

Participants who wish to earn AMA PRA Category 1 Credit™ may do so after completing all sections of the course including the evaluation. After evaluating the program, course participants will be provided with an opportunity to claim hours of participation and print an official CME certificate (physicians) or certificate of participation (non-physicians) showing the completion date and hours earned.

Continuing Education Credit

The American Psychiatric Association (APA) is accredited by the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education (ACCME) to provide continuing medical education for physicians. The American Psychiatric Association designates this live activity for a maximum of 6.0 AMA PRA Category 1 Credits™. Physicians should only claim credit commensurate with the extent of their participation in the activity.

This activity has been planned and implemented in accordance with the accreditation requirements and policies of the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education through the joint providership of the American Psychiatric Association (APA) and APA DDHE. The APA is accredited by the ACCME to provide continuing medical education for physicians.

Planning Committee and Faculty Disclosures

Faculty Disclosures

• Brian McGregor, PhD.
• Erlanger Turner, PhD.
• Gabriel Escontrias, EdD.
• Javeed Sukhera, MD, PhD. 
• Lillian Comas-Dias, PhD.
• Neil Aggarwal, MD.
• Omar Escontrias, DrPH. Reports financial relationships with Novo Nordisk and Novartis.
• Puja Chadha, MD.

Planning Committee

• Regina James, MD.

Accessibility for Participants with Disabilities

The American Psychiatric Association is committed to ensuring accessibility of its website to people with disabilities. If you have trouble accessing any of APA’s online resources, please contact us at 202-559-3900 for assistance.

Technical Requirements

This internet-based CME activity is best experienced using any of the following:

• The latest and 2nd latest public versions of Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox, or Safari
• Internet Explorer 11+

This website requires that JavaScript and session cookies be enabled. Certain activities may require additional software to view multimedia, presentation, or printable versions of the content. These activities will be marked as such and will provide links to the required software. That software may be:  Adobe Acrobat Reader, Microsoft PowerPoint, and Windows Media Player.

Optimal System Configuration:

• Browser: Google Chrome (latest and 2nd latest version), Safari (latest and 2nd latest version), Internet Explorer 11.0+, Firefox (latest and 2nd latest version), or Microsoft Edge (latest and 2nd latest version)
• Operating System: Windows versions 8.1+, Mac OS X 10.5 (Leopard) +, Android (latest and 2nd latest version), or iOS/iPad OS (latest and 2nd latest version)
• Internet Connection: 1 Mbps or higher

Minimum Requirements:

• Windows PC: Windows 8.1 or higher; 1 GB (for 32-bit)/2 GB (for 64-bit) or higher RAM; Microsoft DirectX 9 graphics device with WDDM driver; audio playback with speakers for programs with video content
• Macintosh: Mac OS X 10.5 or higher with latest updates installed; Intel, PowerPC G5, or PowerPC G4 (867MHz or faster) processor; 512 MB or higher RAM; audio playback with speakers for programs with video content

For assistance: Contact educme@psych.org for questions about this activity | Contact SMIadviserhelp@psych.org for technical assistance