In Person Seminar – Exit Plan: How Schools Can Help Lead the Way Out of the Youth Mental Health Crisis – Oct. 27, 2026

PDPs and CEUs are not being offered for this event.

October 27, 2026 @ 9:00 am – 12:00 pm

Registration closes on October 19, 2026 at 11:59 pm.

Registration: 8:30 – 9:00 am
Seminar: 9:00 am – 12:00 pm

Attend In Person

Greater Lawrence Technical School
57 River Rd.
Andover, MA 01810

Speaker

Kathleen Mackenzie, LICSW, CIMHP

Description

Today’s schools are on the front lines of the youth mental health crisis. Educators are seeing increasing numbers of students struggling with anxiety, disengagement, attention difficulties, emotional dysregulation, avoidance, and complex behavioral needs. At the same time, schools are also uniquely positioned to be part of the solution. What if some of the most powerful opportunities to improve student well-being begin by strengthening the everyday conditions that help young people feel regulated, connected, and ready to learn?

In this engaging three-hour seminar, Dr. Kathleen Mackenzie, LICSW, CIMHP, will explore how sleep, digital overstimulation, dopamine, nervous system regulation, and foundational health needs can influence student mood, attention, behavior, and learning. Participants will explore the principle of “regulation before expectation” and demonstrate how regulation-informed approaches can reduce power struggles, strengthen engagement, and help students return to learning while maintaining appropriate expectations and accountability. Participants will leave with practical strategies they can use within their own roles, along with ideas for classroom, building, and district-level action.

About the Speaker

Dr. Kathleen Mackenzie, LICSW, CIMHP, is an award-winning Clinical Social Worker, Senior Lecturer in Behavioral Sciences at Northeastern University, and author of Exit Plan: Mapping a Way Out of the Youth Mental Health Crisis. Dr. Mackenzie received a B.A. from Brown University (’86), an MSW from Boston University (’92) and an Ed.D. from Northeastern University (’12).  In 2013, Dr. Mackenzie received the Hubie Jones Award from Boston University for her ongoing dedication to working with underserved and disenfranchised urban communities and the Dean’s Medal from Northeastern University for her doctoral thesis entitled Teaching English Language Learners Within the General Education Setting: A Phenomenological Study. In 2025, she was recognized as a Woman of Distinction within her community by the YWCA and on May 1, 2026 she published her first book on youth mental health.

Kathleen has 34 years of clinical experience within a variety of settings including a domestic violence and sexual assault program, federal prison, outpatient mental health clinic, inpatient psychiatric hospital, K-12 public school system, and an undergraduate program in behavioral science.  In 2025, she retired from her K-12 district administrator position to advocate for better online protections for youth. She has a small private practice providing integrative mental health services to clients in Massachusetts and Rhode Island and is currently enrolled in a functional medicine psychiatry fellowship.

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

PDPs and CEUs will not be offered for this seminar.

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 at bonnie@mpyinc.org with any questions regarding registration.