25.1 CHATOGETHER: AN INTERACTIVE THEATER INTERVENTION TO SUPPORT ADOLESCENTS AND FAMILIES SEEKING MENTAL HEALTH CARE

Since its inception 3 years ago, Yale CHATogether (Compassionate Home, Action Together) established a pilot digital program tailored for Asian American Pacific Islander (AAPI) children, adolescents, and families with many positive outcomes (Song JE et al, 2022). Using interactive theater adopted from the Theater of Oppressed, we expanded and implemented CHATogether into clinical programs to address family relational health and communication with adolescents facing mental health issues in clinical settings. To tailor to various minority families, we have introduced culturally attuned elements into the theater skits. Components of the Yale CHATogether clinical program will be introduced. Specifically, recorded theatrical vignettes will show teen and parent actors creating vignettes that they find challenging to communicate within their family. First, the problematic scenario will be presented. Second, a child and adolescent psychiatrist will provide moderation to process and to mentalize the perspectives of the teen and parent. Third, actors redo the scenario after incorporating more effective communication skills leading to a modified outcome. We will illustrate a representative deidentified case that received CHATogether family intervention. Feasibility, acceptability, and initial treatment outcomes will be discussed. Audiences will learn about the clinical application of a novel theater-based intervention to target the adolescent-family conflictual dyads. CHATogether serves as a novel digital intervention to address postpandemic family mental health and beyond to facilitate child-parent communications on a variety of topics such as emotional expression and help-seeking behavior.