2023 Northern Lights Psychology Conference
The 2023 Northern Lights Conference will be held on Friday, October 13th, 2023.
9 a.m. - 5 p.m. | UND Memorial Union (Henry Family Ballroom - Rm. 220)
The conference is open to community members, faculty, and students. Attendees can enroll during the morning of the conference.
The conference is being sponsored by UND’s department of Psychology and will be free to all, although attendees with be encouraged to make a donation to our graduate student research scholarship fund. CEUs will also be made available for some conference programming.
About Keynote Speaker
Dr. Mary Fristad

Dr. Mary Fristad
Dr. Mary Fristad is Director of Academic Affairs and Research Development in the Division of Child & Family Psychiatry and Big Lots Behavioral Health Services at Nationwide Children's Hospital and Emerita Professor of Psychiatry and Behavioral Health, Psychology, and Nutrition at the Ohio State University. She is Editor-in-Chief of Evidence-based Practice in Child and Adolescent Mental Health, and Psychotherapy Trials Deputy Editor for the Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry. She has been principal investigator, co-investigator, or consultant on over 60 federal, state, industry, and/or foundation grants focused on assessment and treatment of mood disorders in children and has published over 200 books and articles on that topic.
COI
- Royalties: American Psychiatric Press, Guilford Press, J&K Seminars
- Research: Janssen
- Travel and Editorial Support: Society of Clinical Child and Adolescent Psychology
Keynote Address
Hot Topics in Treating Youth with Mood Disorders
Dr. Fristad will present a past-decade update on mood disorders in youth, since her last UND presentation in 2014. She will describe the impact the coronavirus, social media, and cannabis have had on adolescent mental health, provide an update on evidence-based psychotherapies for bipolar spectrum disorders in youth, summarize lessons from LAMS (the Longitudinal Assessment of Manic Symptoms study), and briefly review two nutritional interventions for youth with mood disorders.
Learning Objectives
Participants will be able to:
- List three contributors to deteriorating mental health in youth
- Name the class of psychosocial interventions that is well-established for youth with bipolar disorders
- Describe ≥ 1 similarities and differences between BD1 & BP-NOS
- List 2 nutritional interventions with some evidence of benefit for youth with mood disorders
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Conference Schedule
Friday, October 13th, 2023
Time | Activity |
---|---|
9 – 10 a.m. | Registration and Breakfast |
10– 11 a.m. | Paper Session I |
11 a.m. – 12 p.m. | Panel Discussion: Effects of ND Legislation on the LGBTQ+ Community |
12 – 1 p.m. | Lunch On Own (Memorial Union Restaurants available) |
1– 2 p.m. | Poster Session |
2 – 3 p.m. | Paper Session II |
3:15 – 3:30 p.m. | Student Awards |
3:30 – 5 p.m. | Keynote Address: Dr. Mary Fristad |