Please join UCLA’s Friends of the Semel Institute and the Resnick Neuropsychiatric Hospital Board of Advisors for a special Open Mind program featuring world-renowned child psychiatrist and Founder of the Child Mind Institute, Harold Koplewicz, MD.

 

Dr. Koplewicz will discuss his latest book, Scaffold Parenting: Raising Resilient, Self-Reliant and Secure Kids in an Age of Anxiety, with Eraka Bath, MD, Professor of Psychiatry and Assistant Dean for Faculty Initiatives, Office of Inclusive Excellence at the UCLA David Geffen School of Medicine. 

 

In Scaffold Parenting, Dr. Koplewicz introduces the powerful and clinically tested concept that the intentional build-up—and gradual loosening—of parental support is the most effective way to help children grow into resilient, confident, and capable adults. Drawing on decades of experience, he outlines practical strategies for nurturing independence while providing the steady emotional foundation children need to thrive. 

 

Just as sturdy scaffolding supports a building until it can stand on its own, thoughtful parenting offers warmth and guidance while gradually stepping back to encourage self-reliance. Dr. Koplewicz will share insights on how to avoid over-involvement that can unintentionally foster anxiety and fragility, and instead raise empowered young people prepared to meet life’s challenges. 

 

BIOS: 

Harold S. Koplewicz, MD, is the founding president and medical director of the Child Mind Institute, the leading independent nonprofit dedicated to children’s mental health. A nationally recognized child and adolescent psychiatrist, he previously served as founding director of the NYU Child Study Center (1997–2009) and director of the Nathan S. Kline Institute for Psychiatric Research (2006–2011). 

 

Dr. Koplewicz was editor-in-chief of the Journal of Child and Adolescent Psychopharmacology for 25 years and is the author of several books, including Scaffold Parenting: Raising Resilient, Self-Reliant, and Secure Kids in an Age of Anxiety (2021). 

 

Since its founding in 2009, the Child Mind Institute has reached nearly 64,000 children through clinical care, research, and school programs; delivered mental health resources to more than 1.8 million students; supported researchers in 3,350 cities worldwide through its open science datasets; and provided trusted information to over 100 million parents, educators, and professionals through childmind.org. In 2023, the organization launched the Stavros Niarchos Foundation Global Center for Child and Adolescent Mental Health.

 

Dr. Koplewicz’s honors include the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry’s Catcher in the Rye Award, WebMD’s Health Heroes Activist Award, and the Dominick P. Purpura Distinguished Alumnus Award from the Albert Einstein College of Medicine. He has been repeatedly named among America’s Top Doctors, Best Doctors in America, and New York Magazine’s “Best Doctors.” 

 

Eraka Bath, MD is a child, adolescent, and forensic psychiatrist and Professor in the Department of Psychiatry at UCLA’s David Geffen School of Medicine. She serves as Assistant Dean for Faculty Initiatives in the Office of Inclusive Excellence, Vice Chair for Justice, Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion in Psychiatry, and Director of Child Forensic Services at the Jane and Terry Semel Institute for Neuroscience and Human Behavior. 

 

Dr. Bath’s work focuses on health care disparities and community mental health, particularly among youth involved in foster care and the juvenile justice system. She specializes in diagnostic assessment and forensic consultation with high-risk adolescents, including those with histories of trauma, delinquency, and foster care placement.

 

Her research, funded by NIH, NIDA, PCORI, the California Community Foundation, the UCLA Pritzker Center, and the Los Angeles County Department of Probation, centers on improving outcomes in the juvenile justice and child welfare systems. She studies family-based interventions for delinquency-involved youth and technology-enhanced approaches to increase engagement in court-referred mental health and substance use treatment for commercially sexually exploited youth. 

 

Dr. Bath provides forensic consultation to attorneys and government agencies on issues including juvenile competency, waiver to adult court, PTSD, child maltreatment, educational rights, risk assessment, termination of parental rights, and child custody.