Many individuals with serious mental illness, including young people with early psychosis, face serious neurocognitive and social cognitive challenges which compromise their daily functioning and quality of life. The evidence clearly shows that good cognitive abilities and skills are exactly what is needed for successful daily functioning. In fact, there are specific abilities such as concentration and verbal memory that are relevant to certain activities such as school and work performance. Social cognition, or thinking skills applied to social situations, such as emotion recognition, social cue perception, and understanding of another’s thoughts and intentions are related to social functioning. This webinar will enable participants to identify various neurocognitive and social cognitive abilities, describe how they are assessed, and explain their relationship to success in functional domains. Evidence-based approaches to remediation of these cognitive challenges will also be presented.

This activity was developed in partnership with the Psychosis-Risk and Early Psychosis Program Network (PEPPNET).

Learning Objectives

• Identify domains of neurocognition and social cognition that are related to community functioning
• Describe brief neurocognitive and social cognitive assessment tools
• List empirically-based treatment approaches used to improve neurocognitive and social cognitive skills

Target Audience

• Counselor, Nurse/Nurse Practitioner, Peer Specialist/Peer Support, Psychiatrist, Psychologist

Instructional Level

• Intermediate

Estimated Time to Complete

Estimated Duration: 1.0 hour 
Program Start Date: June 25, 2020
Program End Date: June 25, 2026

How to Earn Credit

Participants who wish to earn AMA PRA Category 1 Credit™, CE credit for psychologists, or a certificate of participation may do so by completing all sections of the course, including the evaluation. A multiple choice quiz is provided based on the content. A passing score of 75% must be achieved. Retakes are available for the test. After evaluating the program, course participants will be provided with an opportunity to claim hours of participation and print an official CME certificate (physicians), CE certificate (psychologists), or certificate of participation (other disciplines) showing the completion date and hours earned.

Continuing Education Credit

Physicians

The American Psychiatric Association (APA) is accredited by the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education (ACCME) to provide continuing medical education for physicians. The APA designates this live event for a maximum of 1.0 AMA PRA Category 1 Credits™. Physicians should claim only the credit commensurate with the extent of their participation in the activity.

Psychologists

The American Psychiatric Association is approved by the American Psychological Association to sponsor continuing education for psychologists. The American Psychiatric Association maintains responsibility for this program and its content.

Continuing education requirements vary from state to state. Many state boards grant reciprocity with national accrediting organizations and other state boards. It is the responsibility of each professional to understand the requirements for license renewal or check with the state or national licensing board and/or professional organization to become more familiar with their policies for acceptable continuing education credit. Social workers and Psychologists should contact their regulatory board to determine course approval.

Faculty and Planner Disclosures

Instructor

• Joe Ventura, PhD, UCLA. Dr. Ventura is a Senior Researcher responsible for all training and quality assurance functions, development, standardization, and refinement of diagnostic and psychiatric symptom assessment procedures. Reports no financial relationships with commercial interests. 

Planners

• Teri Brister, PhD, LPC, National Alliance on Mental Illness. Reports no financial relationships with commercial interests. 
• Amy N. Cohen, PhD, American Psychiatric Association. Reports no financial relationships with commercial interests. 
• Tristan Gorrindo, MD, American Psychiatric Association. Reports no financial relationships with commercial interests.
• Judith Dauberman, PhD, PEPPNET, Reports no financial relationships with commercial interests. 

• Teri Brister, PhD, LPC, National Alliance on Mental Illness. Reports no financial relationships with commercial interests. (Reviewed on 7/5/2023)
• John Torous, MD, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center. Reports no financial relationships with commercial interests. (Reviewed on 6/29/2023)
• Amy N. Cohen, PhD, American Psychiatric Association. Reports no financial relationships with commercial interests. (Reviewed on 7/5/2023)

Accessibility for Participants with Disabilities

The American Psychiatric Association is committed to ensuring accessibility of its website to people with disabilities. If you have trouble accessing any of APA’s online resources, please contact us at 202-559-3900 for assistance.

Technical Requirements

This internet-based CME activity is best experienced using any of the following:

• The latest and 2nd latest public versions of Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox, or Safari
• Internet Explorer 11+

This Web site requires that JavaScript and session cookies be enabled. Certain activities may require additional software to view multimedia, presentation, or printable versions of the content. These activities will be marked as such and will provide links to the required software. That software may be: Adobe Flash, Adobe Acrobat Reader, Microsoft PowerPoint, and Windows Media Player.

Optimal System Configuration:

• Browser: Google Chrome (latest and 2nd latest version), Safari (latest and 2nd latest version), Internet Explorer 11.0+, Firefox (latest and 2nd latest version), or Microsoft Edge (latest and 2nd latest version)
• Operating System: Windows versions 8.1+, Mac OS X 10.5 (Leopard) +, Android (latest and 2nd latest version), or iOS/iPad OS (latest and 2nd latest version)
• Internet Connection: 1 Mbps or higher

Minimum Requirements:

• Windows PC: Windows 8.1 or higher; 1 GB (for 32-bit)/2 GB (for 64-bit) or higher RAM; Microsoft DirectX 9 graphics device with WDDM driver; audio playback with speakers for programs with video content
• Macintosh: Mac OS X 10.5 or higher with latest updates installed; Intel, PowerPC G5, or PowerPC G4 (867MHz or faster) processor; 512 MB or higher RAM; audio playback with speakers for programs with video content

For assistance: Contact educme@psych.org for questions about this activity | Contact SMIAdviserHelp@psych.org for technical assistance