Overview
Dr. Courtney L. McMickens specializes in child and adolescent psychiatry, with a focus on trauma and health inequities. Her passion for this field stems from recognizing the complex interplay between mental health issues and social determinants such as poverty, educational inequality, inadequate housing, and discrimination across various systems of care. Dr. McMickens' professional journey includes earning her medical degree and Master of Public Health from Harvard. She completed residency at University of Pennsylvania and child and adolescent psychiatry fellowship training at Cambridge Health Alliance/Harvard Medical School. She went on to participate in the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Clinical Scholars Program at Yale School of Medicine. Since training, Dr. McMickens has published peer-reviewed articles and book chapters and made professional presentations at national meetings on topics such as addressing barriers to mental health services, understanding trauma-informed child care, and evaluation of community-based mental health treatment of maternal depression.
Her career is marked by contributions to understanding and addressing childhood trauma, improving mental health services for marginalized populations, and advocating for culturally-sensitive, trauma-informed care. She joined Duke faculty in 2022 as an Attending Child and Adolescent Psychiatrist and Assistant Professor of Psychiatry. Dr. McMickens provides clinical service to children with trauma-related mental health concerns, clinical consultation to child welfare professionals, and serves as clinical teaching faculty for medical students and psychiatry trainees. She also has a role of Clinical Education Training Specialist within the UCLA-DUKE University National Center for Child Traumatic Stress (NCCTS).