Message from the Chairs

The mental health challenges facing young people today remind us that caring for a child requires us to look beyond symptoms and consider the whole child—their body, mind, relationships, experiences, and environment.

This year’s conference centers on an important idea: healing does not happen only in the clinic, and the responsibility for healing should never rest solely on the child. Children are shaped by the families, schools, relationships, and communities around them. Supporting them means not only giving them tools to navigate life’s challenges, but also asking what we can do to create environments in which they feel safe, nurtured, connected, and supported.

Healing can happen through art, play, music, movement, and creativity; through meaningful relationships and time together; and through mindfulness, nourishing food, restorative sleep, and other practices that support the body and mind. Sometimes, it begins simply by helping to give a child a safe space to express themselves, feel understood, and rediscover joy. 

East-West medicine offers a framework for bringing these pieces together—integrating traditional healing wisdom with modern medicine and science to support the whole child. Our goal is not to replace conventional care, but to broaden the conversation and expand the tools available to children, families, educators, and clinicians.

Through the UCLA East-West Pediatric Program, we continue to grow our clinical, educational, research, and community efforts, including Project THRIVE, our school-based whole-child mental health curriculum. We hope to continue expanding access, educating families and communities, and building the evidence for integrative approaches to pediatric health.

We are deeply grateful to the Tellis Family Foundation, and especially Roland and Almas Tellis, whose generosity and commitment to pediatric mental health have made this work possible. We also thank our extraordinary speakers, workshop leaders, panelists, volunteers, colleagues, and community partners for sharing their time and expertise.

Most importantly, thank you for being here. We hope you leave today with new knowledge, practical tools, meaningful connections, renewed hope, and a reminder that creativity, play, connection, and joy are not extras in a child’s life—they can be essential parts of healing.

With heartfelt gratitude,

Katie Hu, MD & Sara Ptasnik, MD
Co-Directors, UCLA East-West Pediatric Program
Co-Chairs, Integrative East-West Pediatrics Conference