Parenting Under Pressure: How Adult Mental Health Shapes Child Safety and Family Stability

Session Description

Parents living with depression, anxiety, bipolar disorder, post-traumatic stress, substance use concerns, or other mental health diagnoses may experience symptoms that affect emotional availability, decision-making, supervision, consistency, and family functioning. This session focuses specifically on supporting caregivers without equating a diagnosis with unsafe parenting. Participants will examine how strengths-based assessment, treatment access, safety planning, practical supports, and culturally responsive engagement can help parents meet children's needs and reduce maltreatment risk.

Learning Objectives

• Identify mental health conditions that may affect parenting.

• Explain how symptoms can affect caregiving.

• Distinguish diagnosis from parenting capacity.

• Identify supports that strengthen family stability.

Meet the Speaker: Ellis Marie Rich Mace MSN CRNP PMHNP-BC

Ellis Marie Rich Mace is a board-certified Psychiatric Mental-Health Nurse Practitioner (PMHNP-BC). She is the owner and CEO of Mace Behavioral Health PLLC, an integrative outpatient psychiatric clinic in Alabama, and Mace Consulting LLC, a healthcare consulting and education company. At her psychiatric clinic, Ellis specializes in the psychopharmacology and psychotherapy treatment of mental health conditions with particular expertise in bipolar spectrum disorders, trauma-based disorders, and LGBTQIA+ affirming care. Ellis holds a Master of Science in Nursing with a PMHNP specialty from Saint Louis University (2021) and a Bachelor of Science in Nursing from the University of Alabama in Huntsville (2010).

2026 - 2027 Louisiana CASA Webinar Series: Healthy Minds, Safe Children: Preventing Child Abuse Through Mental Health Awareness and Support

This eight-part webinar series explores how mental health awareness, early intervention, trauma-informed support, and strong community partnerships can help prevent child abuse and neglect. Participants will examine how caregiver wellness, childhood trauma, adolescent mental health, and family stress influence child safety while learning practical ways to recognize concerns early, strengthen protective factors, and connect families to support before crises occur.