Juvenile Bipolar Research Foundation

"Research: Ongoing fMRI study of the neurobiological effects of intranasal ketamine in children and adults with bipolar disorder - Fear of Harm phenotype. Conducted in conjunction with Harvard Medical School's McLean Hospital. This study began in 2019 and is still in progress.The development and writing of scholarly papers reporting on the findings of past and current research into the origins of, and treatments for, juvenile onset bipolar disorder and its newly identified phenotype called "Fear of Harm". Papers are submitted to and published by peer reviewed journals, and are made available to the general public through their publication and through the JBRF website's research page.Education: Development and distribution of online self-guided education course designed to provide essential information to families on the origins, symptoms, and treatment of the phenotype called "Fear of Harm". The program empowers families to understand the illness and to advocate on their own and their children's behalf to their medical, mental health, and educational providers. The program is designed to assist in improving the quality of life of children and families suffering from juvenile bipolar disorder and Fear of Harm.Development and distribution of an online self-guided education course designed for mental healthcare providers including therapists, social workers, school counselors, and psychologists. The program provides 6.5 hours of educational videos that outline how to identify, diagnose, and effectively treat Fear of Harm. This program is designed to facilitate access to accurate diagnosis and effective treatment of Fear of Harm for children and adults.National video-conference training program offered to mental healthcare practitioners including therapists, social workers, school counselors, and psychologists. This program brings together providers who are treating patients with Fear of Harm in order to provide guidance, resources, and support for those practitioners. The program is designed to assist in the increase of professional competence around the diagnosing and treating of Fear of Harm. Outreach:JBRF's Child and Family Advocacy Program works with families to provide them access to JBRF staff who can act as informational advocates. This program assists parents in communicating with their childs medical, mental health, and legal providers, offering useful and essential information about Fear of Harm. JBRF staff provide education to those care providers on the causes, symptoms, and treatments of Fear of Harm in order to assist care providers in understanding Fear of Harm and how it impacts children, as well as to assist them in providing accurate needed care. JBRF's educational advocacy program helps families navigate the long and complex process of IEP and 504 Plan development. Parents receive support to know how to make formal requests, which assessments to ask for, what the designations mean, and how to make sure the determinations turn into actionable accommodations for their children. This program is unique in that JBRF offers expertise in both educational needs plus mental illnesses and their specific impact on kids.Through national support groups held via video conference, JBRF helps bring together a community of parents and patients living with Fear of Harm. People from all over the country are able to meet face-to-face and to provide emotional peer-to-peer support to each other. In these groups adult patients, parents, and families are able to develop a sense of community they have never had before. Weekly groups are available for parents and loved ones as well as for adult patients. JBRF offers weekly skill groups for teens diagnosed with Fear of Harm where they learn to identify and manage their symptoms.Information sessions are held regularly, welcoming both families and professionals who are new to Fear of Harm. In these sessions we help individuals learn if this diagnosis might be right for them, their loved ones, or their patients."