Functional Neurological Disorder: How to Understand and Treat It

This presentation aims to provide an overview of functional neurological disorder (FND) in children and adolescents. It will review considerations in the diagnosis of FND, including diagnostic criteria, symptom presentation, and assessment factors. The presentation will delve into the importance of language used in helping patients and families understand and accept this diagnosis. It will also review key components of treatment both from the psychological perspective and rehabilitation therapy perspective. Participants will have the opportunity to hear from an adolescent about her journey with FND.

Learning Objectives

At the conclusion of this session, participants should be able to:

1. Describe different ways FND may present
2. Identify helpful and unhelpful words to use when explaining FND
3. Describe two components of psychological treatment for FND
4. Describe one strategy used in rehabilitation therapy

Instructor Credentials

Rebecca Laptook, PhD, is a licensed clinical child psychologist at the Hasbro Children’s Partial Hospital Program (HCPHP), a day treatment program for children and adolescents struggling with medical and psychiatric concerns. She received her doctorate in clinical psychology from the State University of NY at Stony Brook and completed her clinical internship at NY Presbyterian-Columbia University Medical School and subsequent child postdoctoral fellowship at North Shore-Long Island Jewish Health System. She is a clinical associate professor in the Department of Psychiatry and Human Behavior as well as the Department of Pediatrics at the Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University. Dr. Laptook serves as the co-director of training for psychology practicum, resident, and post-doctoral trainees who rotate through the HCPHP and is also the director of staff development and training at the HCPHP. Dr. Laptook has particular interests in childhood anxiety, functional neurological disorder, and cognitive behavioral therapy. She recently served as a guest co-editor of a special edition of the Rhode Island Medical Journal focused on FND.

Heather Chapman, MD, is a pediatrician at the Hasbro Children’s Partial Hospital Program, a day treatment program for children and adolescents struggling with medical and psychiatric concerns, as well as Hasbro's Selya 6, the inpatient med-psych unit. She received her medical degree at the University of Massachusetts Medical School and completed her pediatric residency, chief residency and one-year academic fellowship at the University of Rochester Strong Memorial Hospital and Rochester General Hospital. After several years working in primary care, newborn medicine, and serving as director of St. Joseph's Lead Clinic, Dr. Chapman transitioned to Hasbro Partial Program where she has been providing care for the last 23 years. She is an assistant professor in the Department of Pediatrics and the Department of Psychiatry and Human Behavior at the Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University. Her interests include teaching foundational physical diagnosis skills, collaborative treatment of eating disorders, functional neurological disorder and chronic pain/physical symptoms and educating others on med-psych treatment. She recently served as a guest co-editor of a special edition of the Rhode Island Medical Journal focused on FND.

Kelsey Borner, PhD, is a clinical child psychologist at the Hasbro Children’s Partial Hospital Program, and a clinical assistant professor through the Department of Psychiatry and Human Behavior at the Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University. Dr. Borner completed her undergraduate education at Bowdoin College, and received her PhD in clinical child psychology from the University of Kansas Clinical Child Psychology program. She completed her clinical internship at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital, and a fellowship in behavioral pain psychology at Children’s National Hospital. Dr. Borner has particular interests in working with youth with chronic pain and physical symptoms, functional neurological symptom disorder, and eating disorders, and enjoys supervising psychology and medical students at all levels of training.

Jess Gore PT, DPT, MSPT, is a senior physical therapist at Hasbro Children’s Hospital and clinical teaching associate in the division of Med/Psych through the Department of Pediatrics at the Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University. She received her undergraduate and masters degree in physical therapy in 2005/06, and her doctor of physical therapy in 2018 all at Northeastern University in Boston, Massachusetts. She has a special interest in the area of behavioral health, specifically in functional neurological disorders (FND) and recently presented nationally on her PT treatment strategies for this patient population at the American Physical Therapy Association’s National Pediatric Section Annual Meeting. Gore's psychologically-informed PT treatment approach for FND has also been published as part of a special issue of the Rhode Island Medical Journal on this topic. She has also done several educational lectures on this topic for the Hasbro Rehabilitation Department, Hasbro's “Meeting the Moment” mental health awareness month Grand Rounds, Hasbro morning resident rounds and academic half day, Boston Children’s Hospital pain team, the University of Rhode Island’s graduate school of physical therapy pediatrics course, and the Worchester State University’s speech pathology program.

Session Details

The target audience for this presentation is psychologists, physicians, social workers and other interested health care professionals.

This presentation has been approved for 3.0 CE hours/credits (see below).

Registration

Program fee: $49

Online registration closes on Wednesday, November 12.

For refund/cancellation information, please email [email protected] or call Mayra Colon at 401-606-5753.

Credit Details

This activity has been planned and implemented in accordance with the accreditation requirements and policies of the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education (ACCME) through the joint providership of Rhode Island Hospital and Bradley Hospital. Rhode Island Hospital is accredited by the ACCME to provide continuing medical education.

Rhode Island Hospital designates this activity for a maximum of 3.0 AMA PRA Category 1 Credit(s). Physicians should claim only the credit commensurate with the extent of their participation in the activity.

Rhode Island Hospital is approved by the American Psychological Association to sponsor continuing education for psychologists. Rhode Island Hospital maintains responsibility for this program and its content.

CEUs for this event have been submitted, pending approval by the National Board for Social Work (NASW), designating this activity for a maximum of 3.0 continuing education credits for certified counselors, marriage, and family therapists.

Bradley Conference is designed to provide education for psychologists, social workers, physicians, nurses, certified counselors, speech/language and occupational therapists, teachers, milieu associates, and other professionals who work with children, adolescents, or adults.  Topics address different behavioral health populations and treatment modalities and are intended to provide practical, state-of-the-art information.

Bradley Hospital’s clinical expertise, internationally renowned research, and academic affiliation with The Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University make the hospital a unique resource in all areas of behavioral health care.  We have designed a wide range of learning experiences to provide the training that behavioral health care professionals need to stay at the forefront of their fields.

There is no known commercial support for this program.