This five-part webinar series helps school professionals recognize, understand, and respond to adolescent mental health concerns, including eating disorders, social media use, and obsessive-compulsive disorder. Each session reviews the current research on adolescent mental health and highlights practical strategies for prevention, early identification, and referral while promoting a school culture that values diversity, equity, inclusion and student well-being. Participants will gain confidence in recognizing early warning signs, supporting students with compassion, and connecting families to appropriate resources. The final session will explore educator burnout and offer live, guided self-compassion practices.
To receive PDPs and CEUs, participants must attend all 5 sessions, either live or via the recording, and successfully pass a quiz following Session 5. Within 24 hours of the live webinar, registrants will be emailed a link to view the recorded webinar. The recording will be made available for 7 days after each session.
This session provides a clear overview of the most common eating disorders seen in youth and what early warning signs may look like at school. Participants will learn how to talk with students and families, and where to find support and resources. Emphasis will be on early action and creating a safe, stigma-free environment for students.
This session explores how cultural attitudes about weight, health, and appearance impacts students. Participants will learn how weight stigma shows up in school settings and how to offer health education that promotes inclusion for all body types. Practical strategies will be shared for school policy, curriculum choices, and creating a body-inclusive school culture.
Social media plays a major role in shaping how young people relate to others and to themselves. This session looks at current research on how social media use and content affects adolescent mental health, including body dissatisfaction, disordered eating, and comparison culture. Educators and school staff will learn ways to discuss media literacy, encourage balanced use, and promote positive online engagement among students.
Some students experience overlapping patterns of anxiety, perfectionism, and rigid routines that can include both eating disorder and OCD symptoms. This session helps school staff recognize when these patterns may signal something more serious. Participants will learn what to look for, how to approach conversations with care, and how to coordinate with families and professionals to support student well-being.
Teacher mental health is foundational to student mental health. This session will provide an overview on the research related to burnout, demoralization, and compassion fatigue among educators. Participants will learn the science behind self-compassion practices and how they can be more than just a practical tool, they can be a way to model healthy emotional regulation for students, and a way to cultivate sturdiness. There will also be experiential exercises with guided self-compassion practice.
Speaker
- Sarah Kopencey, Psy.D
- Session 1: January 14, 2027, Recognizing the Signs — What Every School Staff Member Should Know About Eating Disorders
- Session 2: January 28, 2027, Weight Stigma and Inclusion — Creating Body Confident Schools
- Session 3: February 11, 2027, Social Media and Adolescent Mental Health— Media Literacy as Health Education
- Session 4: February 25, 2027, The Pressure to Be Perfect — Understanding When Perfectionism is a Compulsion
- Session 5: March 11, 2027, Sustaining the Teacher – Addressing Educator Burnout Through Self-Compassion
About the Speakers
Sarah Kopencey, Psy.D
Sarah Kopencey (Co-pen-ce), Psy.D., (she/her) is a licensed clinical psychologist and the owner of Brave Awakening, LLC, a private practice based in Portland, Oregon. She holds dual licensure in Oregon and Connecticut. In her clinical work, Dr. Kopencey specializes in the treatment of eating disorders and body dissatisfaction. During her doctoral internship at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst, she developed a concentration in eating disorder treatment in the college setting. She received specialized training on the treatment of eating disorders as a part of the UMass integrative treatment team and with the Massachusetts five college consortium eating disorder treatment and prevention team. Before opening her private practice, Dr. Kopencey was a full-time staff psychologist at Trinity College Counseling and Wellness Center. Dr. Kopencey is a Licensed Be Body Positive Facilitator through The Body Positive Institute and a Be Real Ambassador, reflecting her commitment to evidence-supported, weight-inclusive care and education. Dr. Kopencey also serves as a parent educator with Peace at Home Parenting Solutions and Adjunct Faculty for the University of Hartford Graduate Institute of Professional Psychology.
Membership Information
Most MPY webinars are available ONLY to current staff from member districts and organizations. Public school memberships include police and fire personnel. Former and retired employees and members of committees, including but not limited to, PTO/PTA, PAC, School Improvement Councils, Health Councils, Drug/Alcohol Councils, and school volunteers, are not considered MPY members.
PDPs and CEUs
MPY is an approved Professional Development Provider through the Massachusetts Department of Elementary & Secondary Education (Provider No. F20180079). Professional Development Points (PDPs) are offered for most MPY professional development webinars. PDPs are issued in 10 hour increments, per DESE requirements.
Continuing Education Units (CEUs) are available for clinical staff through the National Association of Social Workers (NASW) and the Massachusetts Mental Health Counselors Association, Inc. (MaMHCA). The NASW and the MaMHCA approve each event individually. CEUs may be given in hourly increments.
To receive PDPs and CEUs, participants must pass the quiz.
Event Cancellation Policy
If you are unable to attend a MPY webinar you must cancel, through Bonnie Mullen at bonnie@mpyinc.org, one business day before the webinar.
For MPY hybrid conferences, the date in-person registration closes will be posted on MPY’s website. Virtual conference registration will close one business day before the hybrid conference. You cannot cancel or switch your registration from in-person to virtual after in-person registration closes. Please email Bonnie Mullen with any questions regarding registration.