Summary
Our latest episode of LiveWell features a powerful conversation with Dr. Eraka Bath, a professor of psychiatry at UCLA and a triple board-certified expert in child, adolescent, adult, and forensic psychiatry. Dr. Bath’s work profoundly impacts youth in the foster care and juvenile legal system, addressing critical issues of racial justice, structural vulnerability, and the path to system transformation.
We discuss:
- Her early exposure to social conditions and structural marginalization through her travels with her mother as a child
- Why she was drawn to psychiatry and how this field can be used to address root causes of socioeconomic injustices
- Identifying problems in clinical spaces and finding solutions that extend beyond the doctor-patient relationship to impact structures and policies
- Her vision for the future of psychiatry, including the integration of Neuroaesthetics and the Arts into health to enhance well-being
Whether you’re a healthcare professional, an advocate for youth, or anyone interested in the intersection of health, justice, and community, this episode offers profound insights into building a legacy of system transformation.
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More about Dr. Eraka Bath
Eraka Bath, MD is a child, adolescent and forensic psychiatrist who is an Associate Professor in the Division of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and the Vice Chair for Justice, Equity, Diversity and Inclusion at the UCLA Neuropsychiatric Institute in the David Geffen School of Medicine.
She has a long-standing interest in health care disparities, minority and community mental health, with particular interest in the underserved populations of foster care and juvenile justice involved youth. Dr. Bath specializes in diagnostic assessment and forensic consultation with adolescents, with an emphasis on high-risk youth, including those with histories of trauma, juvenile delinquency and foster care placement.
Dr. Bath’s portfolio of research has included funding from the National Institutes of Health, National Institutes of Drug Abuse, PCORI, California Community Foundation, UCLA Pritzker Center and the LA County Dept. of Probation. Her research focuses on systems involved population in the juvenile justice and child welfare systems. Specific areas include determining the efficacy of short-term family based interventions for youth involved in the delinquency system and adapting emerging technologies to increase engagement in court-referred mental health and substance use treatment for youth impacted by commercial sexual exploitation.
Dr. Bath’s professional activities include forensic consultation to attorneys and governmental agencies, on a variety of cases involving mental health and the law including, juvenile competency to stand trial, commercially sexually exploited youth, fitness and waiver to adult court, personal injury, PTSD, child maltreatment, education rights, risk management, termination of parental rights and child custody matters.
