AFSPA Talks Navigating Back to School

It’s August, and for many families, that means preparing for a return to school. This can be a challenge for kids and parents. Changing routines, decreasing free time, and, for many of our members, new locations can make for bumpy August and September. Our guests today, working from Brightline Health, will provide some strategies for families to ease the return to school for everyone. 

 Learn more about Brightline Health and sign up for it at www.hellowbrightline.com/fsbp. (Brightline is considered an in-network provider with FSBP. Services are available to FSBP members in the U.S. only. Calendar year deductible and coinsurance apply.)

Dr. Kendra Read is a Licensed Clinical Psychologist and Vice President of Therapy at Brightline. She received her Ph.D. in clinical psychology from Temple University in Philadelphia, PA. She completed her internship in pediatric psychology at Nemours Hospital for Children and her postdoctoral fellowship at the Stanford University School of Medicine in the Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences Department.  Previously, she served as the Director of the Mood & Anxiety Program and Director of Anxiety Programs at Seattle Children’s Hospital, as well as the Director of Psychotherapy Training at the University of Washington School of Medicine Child Psychiatry Fellowship. Dr. Read specializes in the treatment of youth with anxiety disorders and OCD from a cognitive behavioral therapy perspective. She is highly invested in increasing access to evidence-based behavioral health interventions for youth and their families.

Irene Biscante is a National Board Certified Health and Wellness Coach (NBC-HWC) and the Vice President of Coaching at Brightline. She holds a bachelor's degree in Public Health with an emphasis in Health Education and Promotion from Brigham Young University - Idaho and is currently pursuing a graduate degree in Marriage and Family Therapy with a specialization in Child and Adolescent Therapy at Northcentral University. With over seven years of experience in health and behavior change startups such as Noom, Omada Health, and Sanvello Health, Irene has specialized in scaling evidence-based and personalized behavioral coaching through 1:1 video sessions, secured chat, and group/peer sessions. Irene was part of the early team at Brightline where she established the Behavioral Health Coaching function, built the coaching team, co-created coaching programs using evidence-based tools and practices, and developed quality oversight programs to ensure safe and high quality care services at Brightline. With behavioral coaching as an emerging field and a brand new service offering for youth, she successfully transitioned this offering from a direct-to-consumer, out-of-pocket service to a service covered by health plans and employers due to strong care outcomes across all ages. Prior to joining Brightline, Irene served as a coach manager at Noom Inc., where she managed teams, led hiring and onboarding processes, and was a founding internal faculty member in the company’s accredited national board certification program for health coaches. She has coached thousands of individuals both in-person and across digital platforms on a national and international scale. Irene is passionate about expanding access to mental health services independent of income or social status, developing coaches, behavior specialists, and health educators to focus on youth mental health using evidence-based and culturally competent care practices, and reshaping the narrative around youth and family mental health through proactive prevention, early intervention strategies, and behavior change initiatives.