Certificate Course in Child & Adolescent Psychiatry for General Psychiatrists
Child and adolescent psychiatry (CAP) is a firmly established medical specialty within the broad discipline of psychiatry for several decades in many countries in the world. However, training facilities in CAP in India (a three year post- doctoral course “DM” and a 1-2 year “post-doctoral fellowship / certificate courses”), have started only recently, that too only in a handful of centers. Most general psychiatry training (MD) centers in India do not have fully functional CAP services/ units much less any teaching faculty, leading to a very large training gap.
Considering that about > 50% of India’s population comprises of young people below 25 years of age, there is a clear deficit in the availability of specialized services for them. Most children and adolescents in need of psychiatric treatments remain either untreated or reach general psychiatry clinics. Since there are and will never be enough child and adolescent psychiatrists in India needed to provide services to those in need, it is necessary to upskill and empower general psychiatrists enabling them to treat commonly seen psychiatric conditions with their own resources. With this reality in mind, it was decided to start a one year online certificate course in CAP for general psychiatrists in India under the aegis of the Indian Association for Child and Adolescent Mental Health, conducted by a group of expert psychiatrists/ child and adolescent psychiatrists with long years of experience in the field.
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Dr Velprashanth Venkatesan,MBBS (Govt. Kilpauk Medical College, Chennai) ,
Dr. Uttara Chari is a certified Clinical Psychologist and Special Educator. Trained at the National Institute for the Empowerment of Persons with Intellectual Disabilities and National Institute of Mental Health and Neuro Sciences; Dr. Chari is Associate Professor of Clinical Psychology at St. John’s National Academy of Health Sciences, Bengaluru. Her clinical work is informed by a psychodynamic approach. She trains psychiatry residents in psychological assessments and therapies; and teaches psychology to medical and para-medical undergraduates. She serves as Chief Editor of the e-textbook of the International Association for Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Allied Professionals, and is an early-career mentor at this organization.
Dr Shalini Naik is an Associate Professor of Psychiatry at PGIMER, Chandigarh, whose work bridges psychotherapy, neuroscience, addiction psychiatry, and child and adolescent mental health. Trained at NIMHANS with formal specialisation in psychodynamic psychotherapy, she brings a thoughtful, person-centred approach to clinical care while advancing research in neuromodulation in various psychiatric conditions. Her ongoing research work on digital media use and internet overuse among children and adolescents reflects a deep commitment to addressing emerging mental health challenges in young people. Her contributions have been recognised with several prestigious national and international honours, including Indian Psychiatric Society Young Psychiatrist Award, NIDA–ISAM Young Investigator Award, Schizophrenia International Research Society Early Career Academic Excellence Award, ISBD Early- and Mid-Career Mentee Award, etc. She is passionate about teaching, mentorship, and innovation.
e Care Department at IHBAS. Her populations of interest are adolescents, young adults, and emerging adults. Her research interests encompass youth mental health, self-harm, psychosocial issues, palliative care, transdiagnostic therapies, early parenting environments, and psychological trauma. She has received grants from ICSSR, ICMR, and DST. She is a professional member of the APA Trauma Division-56, serves as Associate Editor of the Indian Journal of Child and Adolescent Mental Health, and is the Assistant Secretary General of IASP (2024-2028). She has been awarded the Buckshey Award (2023), J C Marfatia Award (2023), Bombay Psychiatric Society Silver Jubilee Award (2024), and Balint Award (2025).
Dr Eesha Sharma is an Associate Professor of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry at the National Institute of Mental Health and Neurosciences (NIMHANS), Bengaluru. A clinician-researcher with over a decade of experience, her work focuses on developmental psychopathology, early-onset psychiatric disorders, and the interaction of neurobiological and environmental determinants of mental health. She has been centrally involved in several large national and international collaborative studies, including cVEDA, the National Mental Health Survey of India, and the ICMR-funded PARAM cohort. Her academic interests span population neuroscience, childhood adversity, and translational mental health interventions.