Hippo Mental Health Bootcamp 2026

Description

+ Include:  videos + file sub vtt +  pdf, size:  GB

+ Target Audience: Psychiatrists, Child and Adolescent Psychiatrists, Family Medicine Physicians, Internists, Emergency Physicians, Urgent Care Physicians, Addiction Medicine Specialists, and Geriatricians

+ Sample video: contact me for sample video

+ Information:

The Hippo Education Mental Health Bootcamp is an intensive, practice-based continuing medical education curriculum designed to empower frontline medical providers with the clinical skills, diagnostic tools, and therapeutic confidence required to assess and manage psychiatric disorders. As the demand for behavioral healthcare surges and access to specialized psychiatric services remains constrained, primary care, urgent care, and emergency clinicians frequently serve as the initial point of contact for patients experiencing acute mental health crises or chronic psychiatric conditions. This curriculum bridges this critical practice gap by translating complex psychiatric frameworks into actionable, real-world clinical strategies. Through high-yield, engaging video modules, the course covers the full diagnostic and therapeutic spectrum of mood disorders, anxiety, trauma, substance use, psychosis, personality disorders, and behavioral emergencies across adult and pediatric populations, emphasizing patient safety, destigmatization, and safe psychopharmacology.

Learning Objectives

Upon completion of this educational activity, participants should be able to:

• Conduct structured psychiatric interviews, perform thorough mental status examinations (MSE), and apply standardized diagnostic criteria to identify common behavioral health disorders.

• Formulate evidence-based psychopharmacological treatment plans, including selecting, initiating, titrating, and monitoring first-line and second-line psychotropic medications.

• Safely recognize, manage, and monitor adverse drug effects and complications associated with psychiatric medications, including metabolic syndrome, extrapyramidal symptoms (EPS), and serotonin syndrome.

• Rapidly evaluate acute psychiatric emergencies, perform accurate suicide and violence risk assessments, and establish appropriate safety planning and escalation protocols.

• Implement trauma-informed communication skills and brief, evidence-based non-pharmacologic interventions (such as motivational interviewing and sleep hygiene) within everyday medical encounters.

• Determine appropriate clinical disposition, navigate outpatient behavioral health referrals, and identify indications for voluntary or involuntary psychiatric hospitalization.

Target Audience

This activity is intended for primary care physicians (family medicine and internal medicine), urgent care clinicians, emergency medicine clinicians, physician assistants (PAs), nurse practitioners (NPs), resident trainees, and other medical providers who evaluate, diagnose, and treat behavioral and mental health conditions in ambulatory, urgent care, or emergency settings. Best for Psychiatrists, Child and Adolescent Psychiatrists, Family Medicine Physicians, Internists, Emergency Physicians, Urgent Care Physicians, Addiction Medicine Specialists, and Geriatricians.

Topics

• Foundations of Mental Health in Medical Practice

  • The Mental Status Examination (MSE): Framework, Terminology, and Documentation

  • Essential Psychiatric Interviewing and Communication Strategies

  • Stigma Reduction and Fostering the Therapeutic Alliance

  • Medical Mimics of Psychiatric Disease: Laboratory and Medical Workup

  • Principles of Safe Psychopharmacology and Shared Decision-Making

• Depressive Disorders

  • Major Depressive Disorder (MDD): Diagnostic Criteria, Subtypes, and Severity Scoring (PHQ-9)

  • Selecting and Initiating Antidepressants: SSRIs, SNRIs, Bupropion, and Mirtazapine

  • Managing Treatment-Resistant Depression and Medication Augmentation Strategies

  • Persistent Depressive Disorder (Dysthymia) and Premenstrual Dysphoric Disorder (PMDD)

  • Antidepressant Discontinuation Syndrome and Adverse Effect Management

• Bipolar Spectrum Disorders

  • Differentiating Unipolar Major Depression from Bipolar I and Bipolar II Disorders

  • Clinical Recognition of Mania, Hypomania, and Mixed Features

  • Mood Stabilizers: Lithium Indications, Dosing, Monitoring, and Toxicity

  • Anticonvulsant Mood Stabilizers: Valproate, Lamotrigine, and Carbamazepine

  • Atypical Antipsychotics in Bipolar Mania and Bipolar Depression

• Anxiety, Trauma & Stressor-Related Disorders

  • Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD): Diagnostic Assessment (GAD-7) and Pharmacotherapy

  • Panic Disorder and Agoraphobia: Acute Interventions vs. Long-Term Maintenance

  • Social Anxiety Disorder and Specific Phobias

  • Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) and Acute Stress Disorder: Trauma-Informed Approaches

  • Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD): Clinical Presentation and High-Dose SSRI Management

  • Safe Prescribing and Deprescribing Principles for Benzodiazepines

• Psychotic Disorders & Altered Perception

  • Clinical Evaluation of Psychosis: Delusions, Hallucinations, and Thought Disorganization

  • Schizophrenia and Schizoaffective Disorder

  • First-Generation vs. Second-Generation (Atypical) Antipsychotics

  • Antipsychotic Adverse Effects: Extrapyramidal Symptoms (EPS), Tardive Dyskinesia, and Neuroleptic Malignant Syndrome (NMS)

  • Metabolic Monitoring and Management of Antipsychotic-Induced Weight Gain and Hyperglycemia

• Substance Use & Addictive Disorders

  • Approach to Substance Use Disorders: Screening, Brief Intervention, and Referral to Treatment (SBIRT)

  • Alcohol Use Disorder: Outpatient vs. Inpatient Detoxification, CIWA Protocols, and Relapse Prevention (Naltrexone, Acamprosate)

  • Opioid Use Disorder: Harm Reduction, Naloxone Distribution, and Medication-Assisted Treatment (Buprenorphine, Methadone)

  • Stimulant and Cannabis Use Disorders: Clinical Presentation and Management

  • Sedative-Hypnotic and Benzodiazepine Withdrawal: Protocols and Risk Mitigation

• Psychiatric Emergencies & Crisis Intervention

  • Comprehensive Suicide Risk Assessment, Triage, and Safety Planning

  • Management of the Agitated or Violent Patient: Verbal De-escalation Techniques

  • Chemical and Physical Restraints: Indications, Protocols, and Medicolegal Aspects

  • Involuntary Holds, Mental Health Law, and Inpatient Psychiatric Admission Criteria

  • Overdose Management and Serotonin Syndrome Identification and Treatment

• Pediatric & Adolescent Behavioral Health

  • Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD): Stimulant vs. Non-Stimulant Therapies and Controlled Substance Monitoring

  • Pediatric and Adolescent Depression: Black Box Warnings and First-Line SSRI Use

  • Adolescent Anxiety and School Avoidance

  • Assessment of Non-Suicidal Self-Injury (NSSI) in Youth

  • Disruptive, Impulse-Control, and Conduct Disorders in Pediatrics

• Geriatric Mental Health & Neurocognitive Conditions

  • Differentiating the 3 Ds: Delirium, Dementia, and Depression

  • Behavioral and Psychological Symptoms of Dementia (BPSD): Non-Pharmacologic and Pharmacologic Approaches

  • Late-Life Depression and Late-Onset Psychosis

  • Psychotropic Prescribing Considerations in Older Adults (Beers Criteria)

• Personality Disorders & Somatic Symptom Conditions

  • Cluster B Personality Disorders (Borderline, Antisocial, Histrionic, Narcissistic): Setting Boundaries and Managing Splitting

  • Somatic Symptom Disorder and Illness Anxiety Disorder: Collaborative Medical Management

  • Conversion Disorder (Functional Neurological Symptom Disorder): Communication and Workup

  • Factitious Disorder and Malingering: Clinical Distinctions

• Sleep Disorders & Lifestyle Psychiatry

  • Evaluation of Insomnia in Primary Care

  • Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for Insomnia (CBT-I) Principles

  • Pharmacotherapy for Sleep: Trazodone, Melatonin Receptor Agonists, Doxepin, and Z-Drugs

  • The Role of Exercise, Diet, and Circadian Hygiene in Mental Well-being