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Brenda Bursch, PhD

  • Psychology
Child & Adolescent Psychiatry |

About

Department/Division Affiliations:
Professor, Psychiatry and Biobehavioral Sciences, Pediatrics
Director, Pediatric Psychology in Outpatient Subspecialty Pediatrics Program 
Member, Semel Institute (NPI)

Dr. Bursch received her PhD from Claremont Graduate School. She is a Professor in the Departments of Psychiatry & Biobehavioral Sciences and Pediatrics at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA. Dr.  Bursch is a social and medical psychologist with clinical and research interests in pediatric pain, somatization, high health care utilizers, subspecialty and palliative care, and illness falsification. She also has interest and expertise in systems issues (organizational dynamics; patient-family-staff communication; mental wellness and resilience for health care workers; biopsychosocial model). Dr. Bursch has co-authored national clinical guidelines on both Munchausen by Proxy and Pediatric Chronic Pain. She served as an advisor for the DMS-5 section on somatic symptom disorders. She is the co-author of a book entitled  "How Many More Questions?" Techniques for Clinical Interviews of Young Medically Ill Children. Since 2005, she has served as a consultant for the Los Angeles County Juvenile Mental Health Court. Since 2018, she has been affiliated with the Los Angeles Lakers and South Bay Lakers, currently serving as the head team psychologist and as the Director of Mental Health & Wellness.

Languages

English

Education

Internship

VA Greater Los Angeles Healthcare System, 1993

Degree

PhD, Claremont Graduate University, 1990

Recognitions

  • Nominated for Society of Pediatric Psychology Michael C. Roberts Award for Outstanding Mentorship, 2024.
  • Invited Plenary Speaker for the Bioethics Network of Ohio Conference, Jim Barlow endowed lecture, 2024.
  • Nominated for UCLA Department of Psychiatry and Biobehavioral Sciences Excellence in Teaching Award for Outstanding Housestaff Teaching (Child and DPBH Divisions), 2022.
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Locations

West Los Angeles

Child & Adolescent Psychiatry

Child and Adolescent Psychiatry| Clinical Child and Adolescent Psychology

Hospital Affiliations

Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center

UCLA Santa Monica Medical Center

Research

Publications

PEER-REVIEWED JOURNAL PUBLICATIONS:

  1. Martinez, R. G., van Dyk, I. S., Kroll, J. L., Emerson, N. D., & Bursch, B. (2022). Recommendations for building telemental health relationships with youth: A systematic review and resource for clinicians. Evidence-based Practice in Child and Adolescent Mental Health, 7(3), 349–362. https://doi.org/10.1080/23794925.2021.1970050
  2. Emerson, N. D., Tabuenca, K., & Bursch, B. (2022). End-of-Life Care in Patients with Cancer 16-24 Years of Age. Current Oncology Reports, 24(2), 195–202. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11912-021-01173-0
  3. Purdie, D. R., Federman, M., Chin, A., Winston, D., Bursch, B., Olmstead, R., Bulut, Y., & Irwin, M. R. (2022). Hybrid Delivery of Mindfulness Meditation and Perceived Stress in Pediatric Resident Physicians: A Randomized Clinical Trial of In-Person and Digital Mindfulness Meditation. Journal of Clinical Psychology in Medical Settings,    https://doi.org/10.1007/s10880-022-09896-3
  4. Bullock Morse, A., Emerson, N. D., & Bursch, B. (2023). Gender-Affirming Care Recommendations for Health Providers Treating Gender Diverse Adolescents and Young Adults with Cancer. Journal of Adolescent and Young Adult Oncology, 10.1089/jayao.2022.0171. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1089/jayao.2022.0171
  5. Wijesekera, K., Kiff, C., Aralis, H., Sinclair, M., Bursch, B., Alejos, J. C., & Lester, P. (2023). Hybrid delivery of behavioral health screening and prevention intervention for pediatric heart transplant recipients and families: A randomized pilot study. Pediatric transplantation, 27(8), e14577. https://doi.org/10.1111/petr.14577
  6. Bursch, B., Walshaw, P. D., Mogil, C., Babayan, T., & Lester, P. (2023). Innovation: Behavioral Health Skills Training for Families of Space Travelers. Space Policy, 66, 101576.
  7. Bursch, B., Ziv, K., Marchese, S., Aralis, H, Bufford, T, Lester, P. (2024). Department of Anesthesiology Skilled Peer Support Program Outcomes: Second Victim Perceptions. Joint Commission Journal on Quality and Patient Safety, 50(6), 442-448. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jcjq.2024.03.006
  8. Lester, P., Aralis, H., Hajal, N., Bursch, B., Milburn, N., Paley, B., Sinclair, M., Barrera, W., Kiff, C., Beardslee, W., Mogil, C. (2024). Multiple Informant Cluster Analysis Findings: Which Military-Connected Preschool Aged Children Are Doing Well and Why? Journal of Child and Family Studies, 1-14. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10826-024-02902-2
  9. Medrano, L., Bursch, B., Weiss, J.E., Hoftman, A., Jackson, N., McCurdy, D. (under review). Medical Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder Symptoms in Children and Adolescents with Chronic Inflammatory Arthritis: Prevalence and Associated Factors.
  10. Sanders, M. J., Bursch, B. (under review). Psychological Treatment of Munchausen by Proxy Survivors: STORIES Framework.

BOOK CHAPTERS

  1. Bursch, B., Haskell, R (2016). Factitious Disorders. In Brian Sharpless (Editor) Unusual and Rare Psychological Disorders. Oxford University Press.
  2. Williams, S, Bursch, B (2017). Diagnostic and treatment approaches associated with functional gastrointestinal disorders in children and adolescents. In Simon R Knowles, Julian Stern, Geoff Hebbard (Eds). Functional Gastrointestinal Disorders: A biopsychosocial treatment approach. Routledge Press.
  3. Arrouk, R., Monagas, J.J., Hyman, P.E., & Bursch, B. (2017). Factitious Disorder Imposed on Another (Munchausen by Proxy). In Christine Waasdorp Hurtado, B. U. K. Li (Editors) The NASPGHAN Fellows Concise Review of Pediatric Gastroenterology, Hepatology and Nutrition (2nd Edition). NASPGHAN.
  4. Kelly M & Bursch B. (2018). Factitious Disorder Imposed on Another. In Driver, DI and Thomas, S (Editors) Complex Disorders in Pediatric Psychiatry: A Clinician's Guide. Elsevier.
  5. Bursch, B. & Andermann, F. (2018). Factitious Disorders. In Schachter SC, LaFrance WC Jr, (Editors) Gates and Rowan's Nonepileptic Seizures, 4th Edition. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
  6. Emerson, N., Bursch, B. & Stuber, M.L. (2018). Pediatrics. In Levenson, J.L. (Editor) Textbook of Psychosomatic Medicine: Psychiatric Care of the Medically Ill, Third Edition. American Psychiatric Publishing, Inc.
  7. Mogil, C, Bemis, H., Lee, J. & Bursch, B. (2020). Psychosocial Issues. In Shahram Yazdani, Carlos Lerner, Audrey Crummy, Deepa Kulkarni & Charles A. Newcomer (Editors) General Pediatrics: Board Review. Oxford University Press, USA
  8. Bursch, B. (2020). Management of Difficult Patients. In Margaret Stuber (Editor) Behavior and Medicine, 6th Edition. Hogrefe & Huber Publishers.
  9. Emerson, ND & Bursch, B. (2020). Factitious Disorders. In Bryan Carter & Kris Kullgren, (Editors) Clinician Handbook of Inpatient Pediatric Psychological Consultation-Liaison in Medical Settings. Springer.
  10. Bursch, B. & Yorker, B. (2023). Syndrome Evidence: Munchausen by Proxy. In D. Lorandos (Editor) Litigators Handbook on Forensic Medicine, Psychiatry, and Psychology. Egan, Minnesota: WEST, a Thomson Reuters Company.

BOOKS:

  1. Caplan R & Bursch B (2012).  "How Many More Questions?" Techniques for Clinical Interviews of Young Medically Ill Children, Oxford University Press.

 

In the News

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Recognitions

  • Nominated for Society of Pediatric Psychology Michael C. Roberts Award for Outstanding Mentorship, 2024.

  • Invited Plenary Speaker for the Bioethics Network of Ohio Conference, Jim Barlow endowed lecture, 2024.

  • Nominated for UCLA Department of Psychiatry and Biobehavioral Sciences Excellence in Teaching Award for Outstanding Housestaff Teaching (Child and DPBH Divisions), 2022.

  • Invited Speaker for 2022 Child Psychiatry Fellowship Graduation, Division of Child Psychiatry, UCLA Department of Psychiatry & Biobehavioral Sciences, 2022.

  • Invited Pediatric Grand Rounds speaker for Hardy Family endowed lecture, Children’s Hospital of Milwaukee, Wisconsin, 2017.

  • Nominated for Society of Pediatric Psychology Award for Outstanding Mentorship in Pediatric Psychology, 2017.

  • Senior Researcher Award, 63rd Annual Meeting of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, October 24-29 in New York, 2016.

  • Invited Keynote Speaker for 2015 Child Psychiatry Fellowship Graduation, Division of Child Psychiatry, UCLA Department of Psychiatry & Biobehavioral Sciences, 2015.

  • Awarded UCLA Department of Psychiatry and Biobehavioral Sciences Excellence in Teaching Award for Outstanding Graduate Student Teaching, 2011.

  • Awarded UCLA Department of Psychiatry and Biobehavioral Sciences Excellence in Teaching Award for Outstanding Housestaff Teaching, 2005.

  • Co-author on paper that won "Young Investigator Paper Award" (Lester, Stein, & Bursch. Developmental Predictors of Somatic Symptoms in Adolescents of Parents with HIV: A 12-Month Follow-up. Journal of Developmental and Behavioral Pediatrics), 2003.

  • Nominated for UCLA Department of Psychiatry and Biobehavioral Sciences Excellence in Teaching Award for Outstanding Housestaff Teaching, 2001.

  • Nominated for UCLA Department of Psychiatry and Biobehavioral Sciences Excellence in Teaching Award for Outstanding Housestaff Teaching – Psychologist, 2000.